Strategy Realization: The Agile Path to Change

If you are a leader in a company, you probably know the challenge: It is far too slow to translate your strategy into practice and create the desired change in and around the organization. You and the rest of the management are convinced that you have enormous potential. The yield just doesn't match the effort. The strategy is solid and you are guaranteed to have done a great and good job to get there. So what's holding you guys back? Presumably an outdated linear approach called implementation. The solution? A more agile mindset, distractions and concrete actions in sprints.

We call it Strategyrealization.

You have analyzed, formulated and planned. The strategy just needs to be implemented. Down and down through the organization. But the change is not happening as you had predicted. Why not? Here comes a commandment: It's the whole idea of implementation that's the problem. The classic linear process has stalled because it fails to match the complex reality that characterizes companies today — including yours.

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If it can be of any comfort, then you are not alone in being in that situation. Fortunately, we have a solution. Called strategy realization, it represents a much more agile approach to change than the familiar implementation mindset. In this article, we present our ideas on the agile path to change. It contains both external disruptions and 100-day sprints, and it activates the entire system around your company and accelerates the realization of your strategy.

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When the speed of change on the outside of the organization exceeds the speed of change on the inside of the organization — it's game over

— Jigish Avalani · COO, Tradeshift

From Implementation to Realization

Many companies have strong missions, visions and values. Clear clues as to why they are set in the world. Many companies also have fairly clear strategies for how they will move towards the vision. Where it often lags is when the strategy needs to be implemented. Strategy implementation often creates frustration. The top leaders are wondering why this is not happening at the pace that they had planned. Employees marvel at the fact that no more communication is being communicated from the top and a clearer strategic direction is set. The middle managers are trying to build the bridge between the great lines and the local and concrete. Everyone is doing their best, so why is it so hard? Maybe it's the whole idea of implementation which is the problem?

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Implementation is the final part of a linear chain of activities, which could start with concepts such as analysis, formulation and planning. The activities of these concepts are necessary to create coherence and common direction. There are many important dialogues in all the concepts. But the notion that it can be handled as a straight timeline of predictable events, with one activity leading to the next in a tight schedule, is old-fashioned to say the least.

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Even John Kotter, who described a fairly linear context in his books on change management, has in his book Accelerate As of 2014, linear logic must be broken up into more circular, iterative movements. Putting strategies into practice requires methods that are better suited to the greater complexity that businesses are experiencing today.

Basic elements of strategy implementation

In the following, we describe some of the most important elements that we have learned support the successful realization of your strategy. There is no natural order, since all the processes support each other crosswise.

Clear direction and mobilization

It is the job of top management to set the overall direction. But the mobilization of the organization should come faster than in a classical process. We are currently seeing, especially in public organizations, a great courage to get involved early in the development of the strategy. The top management does not disclaim responsibility for the wording, but dares to go out and ask questions in the organization. Many top executives in the private sector could learn from that. By involving earlier, one achieves a mobilisation of knowledge and action much earlier than in the classic implementation projects.

Inputs from the outside world

The strategies of the future are not created in confined spaces, but in interaction with the outside world of the company. An annual customer satisfaction survey or market analysis is not enough. Companies need to have customers, suppliers, partners and stakeholders in close proximity in order to respond quickly enough to the flows in their surroundings. Strategies developed exclusively within an organization will encounter problems when they need to be implemented because they are not in step with development. The companies that stand up to the competition of the future are those that dare to be challenged by the environment.

Action creates power of action

Start doing something early. Inspiration can come from innovation methods, where managers and employees try mini-experiments, for example, and learn about strategic objectives. What's going on on earth? What doesn't work? This should be done in interaction with the outside world. As an example of this, we have good experience with Strategy Sprints, where strategic sub-elements are worked on in a targeted manner over a fixed period of time. During and after the period, it is evaluated on concrete results. When a “trial action” works and creates strategic momentum, it boosts energy and faith in the future. The strategic thoughts and formulations suddenly become tangible in the daily work of each individual. The lessons learned from the actions are fed back to management and can thus influence strategy if the organization's feedback is listened to. It increases the risk of hitting the spot when the strategy is adjusted to reality.

Think in Wholeness and Co-Creation

Those who succeed in realizing their strategy look across and think in whole. Across hierarchies. Across silos. Across disciplines. Across organizations and sectors. Few companies or public organizations can succeed with their mission and vision alone. With each their own perspective and strategy, they can work together to tackle the crucial challenges that they want to tackle in their own way.
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A good example of this may be the challenge surrounding diabetes. Regions, municipalities, interest organizations, volunteers and private companies all share a common interest in preventing and treating diabetes. They each have their own strategy to achieve that goal, but can collaborate and create the solutions together. That kind of co-creation or co-creation is a huge trend that has come to stay. Which actors outside your organization are working towards the same goal as you? How can you think more holistically in your business?

Leadership and Leadership

Leadership has never been more important in strategy work than it is now. Being a leader has never been more challenging. Managers must balance their focus between stable operations and development. Between clear strategic direction and openness to other perspectives. In strategy realization, it is the manager's task to connect the overall indicators with the daily life of each employee. The individual must be seen and heard so that both the brain, heart and legs of the individual are involved in the direction of the strategy. At the same time, a sense of community must be created. A common move into parts of the strategy. The manager must facilitate the processes and dialogues that are focal points for development. No wonder many leaders demand concrete tools.
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It is also the job of the leader to take the serious discussions with those who, over a long period of time, oppose the changes. It is, in turn, a balance between clarity, curiosity and patience. Not everyone is motivated by the strategy, and most strategy processes and major changes mean replacements to a greater or lesser extent.
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The concept of leadership in this context opens up that leadership is not just the role, but a matter of stepping into character, regardless of one's role. In strategy realization, everyone can take leadership. Leadership talents can be spotted on their ability to embrace strategic challenges, and engage and mobilize their surroundings in realizing local projects.

Strength-based focus

Strategy is often described as a series of shortcomings that need to be addressed. What do we need to succeed? Why have we fallen behind in the competition? Why isn't innovation faster? These are important issues that must always be dealt with directly, openly and constructively. With simple grips from the strengths-based toolbox, can dialogues about mistakes and shortcomings be turned into dialogues about how to get there? Dialogues about what it is we want to create — where we are going and how to get there? Without the problems being swept off the table.
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But something continues to be overlooked all too often. Namely, the fact that in most cases there are already many activities going on that point in the direction of the strategy. These overlooked small and large successes are all too often taken for granted, and not analyzed. A deeper analysis of what works, and how this can be strengthened in the movement further forward, has the potential to accelerate most strategy realization processes. Furthermore, an advantage of this “Find & Enlarge” analysis is that it creates strong energy and a sense of momentum to focus on what we actually do well. In addition, it strengthens the desire to try something new.