Design your strategy to be ready for execution!
To plan for a successful SEM, your first goal should be to create a strategy that is fit for execution.
Research shows that execution cannot succeed unless the strategy itself is designed to be executable.
Building your strategy on a logical hierarchy, similar to a chart of accounts for your finances, enables you to plan logically and monitor results. Building a hierarchy (a chart of strategic elements) also connects the strategy to your organizational hierarchy. By being attached to strategic initiatives, any unit or employee can see their role in the strategy’s success. It also helps the Executive Team and the Board monitor progress and applies effective strategic governance exactly where it’s needed. Framing your strategy in a logical hierarchy helps you systematically manage its execution by regularly monitoring, reviewing, and adapting your plan of action. Without this, you’re unable to cascade the strategy throughout the organization, leaving your employees unable to relate to the strategy or contribute to it in any meaningful way. Keep in mind that, under normal circumstances, three million dollars is wasted every minute on strategies that fail or never get implemented. This equals 1,6 trillion USD every year, or the full GNP of Canada or all the Nordic countries.