Why Strategy Doesn’t Make it to The Front Line

The Challenge of the Traditional Strategic Planning Model

Let’s review the traditional strategic planning methodology paradigm:

1. At the annual (or 3-year) strategic planning retreat, the board sets broad goals and objectives that it believes are aligned with the mission/vision.
2. A strategy document is transcribed from flip-charts plastered on the walls during the Strategic Planning retreat and distributed to the board and CEO.
3. Staff and committees establish performance metrics that align with the objectives.
4. The board and CEO monitor and evaluate committee/staff performance against the metrics, then adjust as necessary.

Traditional strategic planning models will say this is the “ideal,” that effective strategic execution requires cascading measures starting broadly from leadership down to the granular performance measures of committees and staff. Line-level performance measures tie upward in progressively broader ways to the “big picture” vision.

Management vs. Leadership

Leadership involves influencing people, whose actions are driven by values, attitudes, and organizational culture – their mindset. The cascading measures approach is a process-focused approach measuring actions taken, not the values, emotional connection and shared understanding that drive the actions.

Goal #1 – Intuitive Alignment, Not Checklists

Cascading measures are for operational alignment, not strategic leadership. While such metrics do align actions in the organization around strategic objectives, they don’t encourage a strategic mindset. They measure outcomes, not the mindset driving the outcomes. So while actions may be taken in alignment with the performance measures, without a strategic mindset, the actions taken outside of such measures may have no alignment with the strategy whatsoever.

A strategic mindset, vs. a prescribed checklist, is a large container with a wide array of potential means to the ends. If leadership is too prescriptive about the “how to” of executing strategies, the organization will be limited to achieving a narrow range of measured actions, which are simply leadership’s educated guesses at the best means to achieve the ends.

Often the best ideas come from the line-level staff and committee members, who are closest to the customer. Thus, keeping the “owner” mentality only at the top of the organization deprives an organization of its full strategic capacity.

The Most Powerful Execution Tool for Strategy

But first, a caveat. Don’t confuse strategic conversation with “communicating the Strategic Plan objectives, goals and vision.” An important prerequisite, but not what we’re talking about here.

Referring to the previous example of knowing how to get home without a map, think about how you reach a state of intuitive alignment. Over time, you develop a mental map through daily repetition, occasionally trying different routes, and learning the broader context of the area you live in by exploring the neighborhood. And the key reason you take the time to learn and explore is because the place you are going is home, it’s where you live, a place to which you have an emotional connection.

Taking the custom home metaphor just a little farther, the conversation continues throughout the various phases of construction. Though all are committed to the general vision, various changes to the design may occur as unidentified problems come to light after building begins. So, though the final structure may not look exactly like the original plans, because we discussed solutions together with a common understanding of what we wanted to achieve, we’ll create a better end result.

In short, when it comes to strategic execution, the difference between management and leadership is the difference between only showing our team the blueprints and never talking about how we intend our dream home to look and feel when we’re done building it. Strategic mindset and intuitive alignment among the whole team can only come from ongoing conversations that create context around the strategic objectives, not simply handing people a to-do list and following up to see if they did it.

Could your leadership team benefit from having an outside expert guide them through effective strategic planning? Need a new approach to strategic planning where it can be embraced at all levels of your organization? Contact us for a complimentary phone consult! Contact us!