Four reasons why good Strategies fail

Every week I recieve the Growth Tips from RESULTS.com and the recent one really resonates with most large businesses.

If you do not recieve the Growth tips already take a few minutes to log on and have a look.

In their latest post COO Stephen Lynch identifies the top three reasons why good strategies fail?

1 - Execution
2 - Execution
3 - Execution

In the words of the immortal Tom Peters he forgot the fourth one - Execution

In the book “Making Strategy Work: Leading Effective Execution and Change”, MBA trained managers know about planning, but they know very little about how to execute a plan.

A survey of senior executives at 197 companies showed that firms achieve only 63% of the expected results of their strategic plans. The key reason is they don’t know how to execute effectively.

Here is the insights from the Business Execution Experts on the causes of execution failure:

1 - Lack of strategic focus.
2 - Resistance to change.
3 - Poor communication.
4 - Incentives not aligned with strategy.
5 - Not paying attention.
6 - No cadence.

Read the full article here

Talking to a company over the past week their summary of the Strategic Plan was 34 pages long. The full version was well over 100 pages!

Most of the people who worked where the rubber hot the road did not understand or know how the work they were doing fitted into the big picture. As a consequence they continued to work on the biggest enemy of execution - Business as usual.

Simplifying your strategies are essentials if you want to win.

Michael Porter the Harvard University Professor of Management and Economics says “Many managers simply do not understand the importance of having a clear strategy. Strategy is about making trade-offs. The essence of strategy is choosing what not to do”

Jeff Imment who succeeded Jack Welch at the head of GE says “What is strategy but resource allocation? When you strip away all the noise, that’s what it comes down to. Strategy means making clear cut choices about how to compete. You cannot be everything to everybody, no matter what the size of your business or how deep its pockets. You have to figure out what to say NO to”

Jack Welch, the former CEO of GE says “Strategy is not a lengthy action plan, you should be able to fit it on a single page"

Here is a link to a document from the Business Exection Experts for simplifying your company strategy onto a single page so all of your people can see the strategic priorities - everyday.

If you would like assistance on understanding how to use it they often have free workshops accross New Zealand, North America and the United States Click here to find one near you