The Four Key Elements

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The context within which executive decisions and actions take place will have a profound influence on making strategy work. The four contextual factors–change, culture, power and leadership–all need to be in sync before any strategy will work. To be able to make the right strategy work, you need to have:

1. The ability as an organization to manage change
2. A culture that values execution highly.
3. A power structure that supports execution of the strategy
4. Leadership that is committed to creating and following through on the strategy.

1 The ability to manage change

By definition, making strategy work requires that you manage the changes that occur in the marketplace and within your organization. This is often the single biggest obstacle to effectively executing a preferred strategy.

To manage change effectively:

1. Assess the size and content of any impending changes. Decide where the focus of any change efforts should rightfully be.

2. Estimate how much time you have available to execute your planned changes.

3. Decide whether the necessary changes should be made swiftly in one step, or if a sequential process of progressive steps wouldn’t be better.

4. Make someone responsible and accountable for the various elements of the change process. Be very definitive about this so there is no ambiguity.

5. Find practical ways to offset and neutralize any overt or covert resistance which might arise to the change initiative.

6. Monitor the changes as they’re implemented. If they’re not working as planned, make some tweaks and enhancements. Pay close attention to what’s going on.

Obviously the more complex the change that’s required or the shorter the time available, harder the change process becomes. When you have to actually do a number of change related tasks simultaneously, the potential for problems increases appreciably as:

Coordination and control become harder to track

People have insufficient time to do cause-and-effect analysis

Organizational learning may be restricted

There may be an inability to adjust performance targets

If at all possible sequential change is the preferred option. If you can find a way to break large changes down into smaller, more manageable pieces or elements that can then be changed one at a time, some of the problems previously mentioned will be eased or even avoided entirely. The only downside to this approach is sequential change takes time, and the longer you take to make a change, the more potential there is for additional, unanticipated factors to crop up. Furthermore, slow sequential change is fairly unexciting. It won’t be possible to make a big deal about launching a major change initiative when it’s done in a series of small steps. That may or may not be a factor worth considering.

2 A culture that values execution

Corporate culture makes a big difference in any organization’s ability to make strategy work. Culture is pervasive–it colors and influences everything that happens. If there is a culture of concealment in place, employees will be discouraged from doing what’s required. Equally, if the prevailing culture is one of discipline and getting things done, you can be more confident about executing the nominated strategy.

In simple terms, culture dictates the way things get done or the way people behave. Culture embodies the organization’s shared values and vision. Changing an organization’s culture is difficult, but it can be done. There are five rules or guidelines to keep in mind when it comes to changing a culture:

1. Make the reasons for change clear, compelling and agreeable to the key players. Explain why prior performance was poor, and use a cause-effect style analysis to generate consensus for making a change.

2. Focus more on trying to change behavior and less directly on trying to change the culture per se. As you change people’s behaviors for the better, you’ll find the culture changes correspondingly. Introduce new incentives that will reward the desired behavior. Put in place controls and organizational structures aligned with the new culture. This works better than appealing to individuals to make changes.

3. Remember effective communication is vital. Let people know where the organization is at in its evolution. Talk to people directly, face-to-face and in groups. Let everyone know what’s going on, and what remains to be done.

4. Do everything you can to reduce resistance to change. Within reason, focus on the positives and leave the negatives to die a natural death. Improving participation and involvement is an excellent way to offset any potential negativity.

5. Make cultural at a reasonable pace. If you try and change too many aspects of the culture simultaneously, you not only confuse people but also generate coordination and communication challenges that aren’t desirable. Trying to move too fast hurts the learning process and dilutes the impact of the changes made.

3 A power structure which supports execution

Power can be defined as the opposite of dependency. In any organization, the people who have the most power are those who monopolize something another person needs. The source of power might be information, resources, authority to act or whatever, but the basic principle is the person with power has access to the things other people want and need.

Power affects both strategy formulation and strategy execution directly. The people with the most power can make the choice of strategy they prefer, and the consequent execution needs will then flow directly from the choices made. It’s important to keep this in mind during strategy formulation. Any organization that does not take into account its own internal power structure when considering strategy will face difficulties and likely failure.

So what can you do to enhance your effective power to formulate and then execute your effective power to formulate and then execute your preferred strategy? Some ideas:

See if it’s feasible to form a coalition with those in power: where they will support your ideas in exchange for something they want. Often, if you sell another internal group on the merits of what you’re suggesting, you can form a larger power base that cannot be ignored.

Focus on the value-added, measurable results that will be delivered: that is, the positives of the cost-benefit calculations. It will always be easier to marshall support when the upcoming benefits are real and substantial. It also helps if there is a clear cause-and-effect relationship involved, and if the benefits are measurable rather than being soft or hard to quantify.

Make a direct approach to your organization’s senior leadership: those who have the power to change the prevailing internal power structure. If the CEO and the board of directors learn about clear and compelling benefits that could flow from a change of strategy, they will be obliged to look at the matter in more detail. If you have your facts right and can make a genuine case, they may even be able to help modify the prevailing internal power structure to facilitate your strategy. This is the ideal scenario, as the senior leadership will be anxious to change anything which dulls your organization’s competitive advantage.

4 Leadership committed to following through

Poor organizational leadership can stop or at the very least seriously impede strategy execution efforts. Effective business leaders generally bring the ability to meld together both hard and soft issues that will be critical to execution success. The more an organization has at stake, the greater the degree to that success will depend on the quality of the leadership provided.

The practical things you can do as a leader to enhance your organization’s ability to make strategy work are:

Have the ability to analyze, understand and then sell execution needs and decisions: throughout the organization as a whole. Leaders need to be advocates for the right decision that is not always going to be the most popular decision. When needed, leaders need to take steps to ensure the right things happen.

Develop incentives that are simultaneously alluring and aligned with strategy execution: since more than any other single factor, rewards send an unmistakable signal what is valued and what is not when it comes to executing a strategy.

Think strategically and long-term: to encourage the learning which will be required to underpin future performance.

Understand the internal power structure: and know how to encourage the learning which will be required to underpin future performance.

Be able to dictate the ideal pace of change: whether the situation calls for rapid and complex interactions or whether a sequenced, paced intervention would yield better results.

Be open-minded and have a high tolerance for situations of ambiguity and uncertainty.

Even out internal biases: so strategy formulation and execution is not totally dominated by just one unit or division.

People are vital to execution success. Clearly, their motivations, capabilities, commitments, and ability to create and follow through on plans of action will affect the success of execution efforts. It is important to focus on the climate leaders create.

–Lawrence Hrebiniak

Power is social influence, and that influence can materialize in different ways.

–Lawrence Hrebiniak