Lessons From the Field- Turning Strategy Into Action: 5 Predictors of Implementation Success
Many companies today are caught in a vortex of change that forces them to transform and evolve their strategies to remain competitive, adapt to shifting market conditions and secure long-term success.
However, a strategy is only as good as its implementation.
Many companies tend to spend a significant amount of effort and capital on developing the new strategy, but underestimate the effort and commitment it takes to cascade and embed the strategy effectively throughout the organization. No matter how well the new strategy identifies new ways to capture value, putting it into practice and capturing this value is where the rubber hits the road. A strategy is nothing but a concept on paper until it is understood, embraced and implemented by the organization.
At FTI Consulting, our People & Transformation team has supported countless organizations in cascading strategies effectively. Our experience shows that there are five key predictors of whether a strategy will be implemented successfully or not.
Leadership teams often underestimate the importance of taking sufficient time to discuss the new strategy as a team to reach alignment on the way forward. If the leadership team does not present a united and powerful guiding coalition to the organization, the implementation of the strategy starts off with a critical impediment.
The strategy design process is often owned by the CEO, CFO and CSO, along with a dedicated project team. However, a critical disconnect occurs when this process becomes isolated, failing to engage the broader leadership team. This lack of involvement leads to a fundamental problem: a leadership team that doesn’t fully understand, own or believe in the strategy.
Convincing and aligning the leadership team is the first domino to fall. Without their buy-in and ownership, effectively cascading the strategy to the rest of the organization becomes a challenge. Disengaged leaders will not champion the plan within their own teams, undermining the new strategy’s overall effectiveness.
By prioritizing leadership team alignment and building a strong coalition around the strategy, companies can ensure everyone is rowing in the same direction. This unified front lays the groundwork for successful strategy deployment and empowers the entire organization to deliver on the expected outcomes.
Practical tips
Six questions to help your leadership team form a strong guiding coalition for change:
- Do we have a clear, unified mission as the leadership team in this change?
- Do we have actionable leadership goals and objectives?
- Are the ground rules for how we work together in our leadership team on this project clear?
- Do we all have clear roles and responsibilities in guiding this change?
- Do we have clear principles and guidelines for how we will resolve conflict?
- How will we measure progress?
“Culture eats strategy for breakfast” is nowhere truer than during the implementation of a new strategy. What’s beautiful on paper can quickly sink in the quicksand of “but that’s the way we always do things around here.”
Successful strategy implementation must include clarity on where the current culture will support or hinder the process, as well as what aspects need to be addressed with priority to ensure success.
Companies usually have clear answers to key strategic questions such as: where are we now, where do we want to go and how do we get there? However, explanations get murky when asked about how questions about their identify as an organization: who are we today and who do we need to become to be able to deliver this strategy?”
A common pitfall in strategy deployment is the disconnect between the formulated plan and the company culture. Let’s say your new strategy requires a strong collaboration between departments or regions. This requires a culture that fosters teamwork, collaboration and information sharing. Many companies, however, will announce such a strategy shift without also understanding the barriers to collaboration and addressing a siloed work environment. Combine this with performance management indicators that do not recognise and reward teamwork, a lack of information sharing and the absence of cross-functional collaboration and yes — culture will eat your new strategy for breakfast.
Practical tips
- Assess and understand the strengths and challenges of your current culture and define what aspects you need to prioritise to support the new strategy.
- Clearly articulate what mindsets and behaviours you expect from the organization.
- Hold senior leaders accountable to lead by example.
- Recognise and formally incentivise desired mindsets and behaviours.
- Invest in communication and enablement activities to keep reinforcing these mindsets and behaviours – especially during the first year of implementation.
“I love that spreadsheet on slide five,” said nobody ever. In the face of business transformation, employees will naturally seek clarity on the driving forces behind the new strategy.
Storytelling is a powerful tool to drive change. Leaders should not just communicate what will change. They must also create the impetus for change by articulating the context and rationale: the “why” and “why now” — it’s imperative to the organization’s future success. By explaining “why now” and outlining shared goals for the organization, leaders can create a sense of urgency that enlists employees in the process of change and fosters a collective commitment to action.
Effective strategy deployment goes beyond communicating the plan — it’s about inspiring, engaging and enabling people managers and employees to contribute. That’s where the power of storytelling comes in.
A large beverage group undergoing a post-merger integration discovered the power of storytelling when the merger didn’t deliver the expected commercial and financial success. To address this, management introduced a new strategy to increase sales, efficiency and profitability. While cascading the new strategy, they used a compelling narrative — the “Blue Train” concept.
Inspired by the book “Riding the Blue Train” by Bart Sayle & Surinder Kumar, the concept identifies the current organizational state as “riding the Red Train,” which leads to defensiveness, anger and negativity. The authors contrast this with the “Blue Train,” symbolizing the new strategy that would foster innovation, collaboration and drive.
The “Red Train / Blue Train” concept paints a vivid picture that effectively communicates the need for a mindset shift alongside the strategic change. The story, which was shared by senior leaders across different communication channels, resonated with employees, making the strategy more relatable and fostering a sense of shared purpose. Over time, this helped the organisation bounce back, over-deliver on all targets and become much more profitable with an engaged workforce.
Practical tips
- Start the strategy change narrative with “why” and “why now” and only then follow on with “what, how and when.”
- Ensure the entire leadership team conveys the same messages with confidence and conviction. If they don’t stand behind it, how can the rest of the organisation?
- Make sure there is a feedback loop for employees to share their experiences throughout the shift. This allows you to track sentiment and provide additional support and clarity where needed.
Successfully implementing a new strategy is not a one-time launch event, but a journey that requires a team effort. A grand announcement may generate excitement, but success will depend on how willing and enabled employees are to adopt it – it requires a focus on maintaining momentum and engagement over the long term.
While many companies allocate significant funds and enlist the expertise of external consultants in strategic planning exercises, few will commit the same level of resources to the implementation of the strategy. Often, leaders will confidently announce the new strategy, but struggle to keep the change leadership momentum going. Think of it as hearing the starting pistol of a race and thinking you’ve already won. The truth is, this is just the start — the hard work is only just beginning.
Why do leadership teams often flounder after the official launch of a new strategy? In our experience, it’s because they have spent months preparing for the strategy change implementation, discussing, debating, tweaking and honing the approach. However, they often overlook the fact that just because they understand the strategy, it doesn’t mean that the rest of the organization does too.
Often, we hear leaders say, “Do I really have to talk about this again? Isn’t it clear by now?” But frequent repetition helps keep the goals clear and bolsters morale. At FTI Consulting, our change communication motto is “Repetition is your friend.” If you’re getting tired of delivering your message, that means you’re leading change well. Beyond repetition, leaders must also shape their messages to answer the questions and needs of specific audiences and communicate with them through a variety of channels, offering information and gathering feedback.
A good plan is only the beginning. To successfully embed a new strategy, assigning ownership and resources to the plan after the announcement is equally important. If companies have a clear focus and adequate resources to enable their people, launch day can be the start of true transformation, not just a big announcement.
Practical tips
- Plan and budget for the first 100 days’ engagement, communication and people manager enablement.
- Build a change champions network responsible for enabling the change.
- Measure progress and celebrate milestones — even incremental ones.
- Sustain leadership visibility across communication activities.
- Keep channels of communication open: Create formal and informal two-way communication opportunities.
One of the biggest mistakes we see companies make is not sufficiently involving and enabling their people managers to lead the change confidently, deal with resistance and motivate their teams toward the new goals.
Organisations often do not take the time to assess how the change will impact people and teams differently and what different questions, uncertainties or concerns the strategy implementation may raise. The result? Key roles and high-potential employees that may be a flight risk are not identified or secured during the process. Team leaders who do not fully understand the change and their role in it, can undermine the plan by voicing personal concerns to their employees, destabilising the team, lowering productivity and increasing employee turnover.
While companywide communication is essential, it does have limitations — generic messaging can’t address all team-specific concerns. Equipping people managers to effectively deliver messages, explain changes clearly and troubleshoot issues is crucial to make sure teams grab the strategy and run with it.
A great example of how to enable people managers comes from a company that set up an extended leadership team specifically to support a new strategy rollout. This team, comprised of managers from various departments across the business, had clear roles and expectations outlined for them.
The company invested in the development of this extended leadership team with a dedicated change enablement program. The program equipped managers with the knowledge and skills to explain the new strategy to their teams and understand how people go through change, as well as how to manage resistance, address concerns and champion the changes needed for success.
Additionally, quarterly leadership forums were set up as a platform for managers to share best practices, brainstorm solutions to roadblocks and ensure continuous alignment on cross-functional expectations.
This approach ensured that the company empowered their people managers to become active change champions. It not only fostered a sense of ownership among managers, but also created a more engaged and supportive environment for employees navigating the changes.
Practical Tips
- Build a manager change network and invest in enabling this team to lead the change.
- Create a manager peer network that supports managers in leading change by offering a platform that facilitates the exchange of lessons learnt, best practices and alignment.
- Recognise and reward managers that visibly and constructively support the change and exhibit the desired mindset and behaviours
Navigating the complexities of implementing a new strategy can be a daunting journey. While leaders provide the vision and strategic direction, it is the commitment, engagement and dedication of all employees that will ultimately breathe life into it.
| The views expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and not necessarily the views of FTI Consulting, its management, its subsidiaries, its affiliates, or its other professionals.
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