Strategy as a Living Process

Successful businesses operate with a strategy dedicated to upholding the company’s mission, purpose, vision, and values. Leadership understands that strategy is a series of decisions to achieve major aims. They can spend an inordinate amount of time working to get their team’s buy-in and creating accountability around the strategic goals; often it can be frustrating with no process to follow.

But what happens when the goals are too lofty? Maybe strategic goals cannot be achieved because existing talent doesn’t understand it and is reluctant to buy in? Or is the process to execute the strategy unclear? Or is the timeline unreasonable? Or external factors, real or potential, are not considered? Or—and worst of all—what if all of these variables have been addressed, outlined, and agreed upon, and still, the strategy is reduced to nothing more than a binder on a shelf?

Ms. Lea Macchiaroli, President and Founder of trans-forme, LLC, has seen some variation or all of this numerous times when collaborating with her clients. This is often the very reason leadership engages her services. She believes that strategy is a living process, one that needs periodic review.

When she engages a client, she first looks at how and whether their strategy is aligned with the company mission, purpose, vision, and values. Once that has been established, she works with leadership to appreciate the dynamic, organic nature of strategy and that there’s a cohesive relationship between strategy, people, and process. Strategy has a cascading effect. Without people or process, it’s only a weak, static plan.

People need to be clear on their roles and what the expectations are to play their part in executing the strategy effectively. Buy-in is essential. Team-specific goals require a process that outlines an actionable roadmap. And process factors in the possibility of internal and external changes, with clearly communicated plans to accommodate. Leadership needs to set an example in accountability. The consequence of misalignment in any of these areas is confusion and has a long-term, damaging effect on a one- to three-year strategic plan.

“Leadership is responsible for making it a priority to continually determine if the strategy is relevant to the company’s goals, is supported by talent, and if the process functions well or needs adapting to new circumstances,” she says. A robust strategic plan proves its vitality when it is fortified by utilizing talent (people), adheres to a roadmap that is clearly communicated (process), and is subject to habitual reevaluation from leadership.

The central question to ask regarding your organization’s strategy is if it is aligned with what you need today and is it aligned to how you’re going to execute? Or is it a binder on the shelf? - Copywritten by Boston Edits, LLC.