Scenes from everyday corporate life
The script is all too familiar: objectives are set, winning business strategies are designed that look truly effective on paper, resources and time are invested, meetings are scheduled… and then? And then comes the review, revealing two possible scenarios:
- what was defined in the strategy often struggles to be implemented in practice, missing the expected results,
- or the strategy is implemented only partially and with great effort, in a disjointed and misaligned way.
Sound familiar?
It is indeed a widespread pattern, confirmed by international studies.
As much as 50% of business strategies are never implemented, remaining effective only on the pages that contain them.
Countless articles, research papers and studies provide useful guidance and criteria to craft the best winning business strategies to develop a business and grow in a specific market.
At the same time, leading international consultancies focus precisely on strategic advice and beyond.
They have helped and continue to provide essential input to help companies identify winning strategies for their business.
Differences between businesses: what really matters in a business strategy
So what is the difference that truly makes the difference? Why do some organisations genuinely succeed in executing their strategies, while others—more than half—struggle and find themselves constantly playing catch-up?
What we have seen and experienced first-hand with our clients over the past 25 years is a very common phenomenon.
Fundamental aspects are often overlooked—aspects that are not tied directly to specific elements of the strategy, but rather to how the entire organisation, starting from its mindset, moves towards and works for its execution.
Launching new strategies initiates change processes that are constantly evolving, and people must know how to continuously readjust and guide themselves to work with agility towards new outcomes.
Throughout our consulting experience, we have pinpointed several key questions.
Using these questions, we foster a dialogue with executive leadership that clarifies the current state and identifies the gaps to address in order to truly ground a winning business strategy.
Below are some of these questions, which can help you understand your organisation’s starting point and identify critical junctures to manage effectively so that your entire company moves in harmony:
Key questions to ask yourselves and your teams:
- Is there a corporate vision that is clearly articulated, known and understood?
- Was the strategy co-created and shared? Are the targets clear and well communicated? Are people motivated to achieve them, and do they understand the consequences of falling short?
- Are managers able to explain the “why” behind what they ask of their teams?
- Do people feel accountable for tangibly supporting the business by delivering results?
- Is there a culture of continuous dialogue and feedback?
Through these and other questions, we help our clients build and sustain the conditions required to reach their chosen goals.
