Wheel Spinning

The most common complaint about "srategy' is the lack of execution. 

Many people assume that a strategy is a big-picture overall direction, divorced from any specific action.  But defining strategy as broad concepts, thereby leaving out action, creates a wide chasm between "strategy" and "implementation."  If you accept this chasm, most strategy work becomes wheel spinning.

The most common complaint about "strategy' is the lack of execution.   This complaint is usually the result of having confused strategy with goal setting.   When the "strategy" process is basically a game of setting performance goals --so much market share, so much growth, etc.--then there remains a yawning gap between these ambitions and action.

Strategy is about how to advance the organization's interests.  Of course leaders can set goals and delegate to others the job of figuring out what to do.  But that is not strategy, let's skip the spin and be honest--call it goal setting.

A good strategy includes a set of coherent actions.  They are not "implementation" details; they are the punch in the strategy.  A strategy that fails to define a variety of plausible and feasible immediate actions is missing a critical component.

ACTION POINT: Identify the coherent actions that will advance your organizations interests.