What If Everything We Think We Know About Strategy Execution is Wrong?
We now have a better set of practices and mental models to go from idea to reality
“We’re keen to shift the conversation from strategy OR execution to a richer consideration of how to get the very best of both. The way to do that is to think of activating strategy as a design process.”
IDEO U, Iain Roberts intro video
Welcome back to the latest edition of the Upstream Full-Stack Journal, helping you go upstream and be more effective across the full Value Delivery stack.
We cooked up a legendary turkey with family here in the South of the U.S. for our Thanksgiving Day. Hope everyone’s doing well as Winter fast approaches…
In this edition:
My experience with IDEO U’s Activating Strategy course
Strategy and Execution Are the Same Thing
Activating Strategy “Sneak Peek” video by instructors Jennifer Riel & Iain Roberts
Strategic Choice Chartering as a viable way to create great execution
Let’s jump in!
What If Everything We Think We Know About Strategy Execution is Wrong?
Mindsets and practices to turbocharge turning strategy into reality
The Strategy-Execution Gap
Ask any executive, they’ll tell you their number one problem is getting their organization to execute against their strategy.
HBR ran a survey of 400 executives that found “strategy execution” topped their list of 80 issues, ahead of growth, global instability, and lack of innovation, finding they failed to execute from 66–75% of the time.
Those same leaders frequently bemoan the inability of their subordinates to “focus” and “execute” against their strategies.
We’ll dig into a different way of thinking about strategy and execution, and learn a practice that takes advantage of the human side of strategy to offer a valid alternative.
In this piece, I share my experience with the second part of the “Human-Centered Strategy” certificate from IDEO U, “Activating Strategy,” and how it can benefit you in your work.
Read the full story on Medium here.
Strategy and Execution Are the Same Thing
This piece was absolutely mind-blowing to me when I read it.
Roger L. Martin starts with a wide-ranging executive study, expsoing how few feel they’re competent at both Strategy and Execution.
“The very best strategic leadership helps the entire organization understand that all of its choices result in the strategy that customers experience, creating a framework by which every person in the organization makes the choices he or she needs to make.”
Key takeaway: You can’t tell where Strategy ends and Execution begins.
Read the full piece on Harvard Business Review here.
Activating Strategy Sneak Peek Video
This short video from the “Activating Strategy” instructors Jennifer Riel and Iain Roberts goes into a number of key foundations.
In this video, at about the one minute, 17-second mark, Jennifer Riel goes into the concept of “Nested Strategies” using the imagery of nesting dolls.
Strategic Choice Chartering
Picking up on the Strategy and Execution connection, Roger L. Martin shares a better mental model for going from idea to reality, sharing the way to charter strategic choice-making through 6 steps:
“Regardless of where you exist in an organization’s hierarchy, you have the responsibility to both make and charter choices. It would be optimal if your superior follows the six elements of good chartering. But even if she doesn’t, you can take responsibility for making the choices your superior appears to need from you and charter great choices below you.’”
Read the full piece on Roger L. Martin’s Medium publication here.
That wraps things up for this edition!
Join me next time as we continue to go upstream and use strategy, goal-setting, and product management to make you more effective.