Blog #4: Week 6: Taking Strategy from Development to Implementation

Week 6: Taking Strategy from Development to Implementation

All the strategy and planning can fall flat if it does not account for the specific context, challenges in the realm, and the idea that strategy is more fluid than a plan set in stone. When companies move from defining their current situation and what they should be doing in the present scenario to achieve their goals, towards actually implementing it, there is a lot that can go wrong.

Simon Horan and Michael Connerty in their article for HBR, present a good framework of four tensions that an organization is internally battling with, in order to execute their defined strategy effectively. The initial discussion is about an inspiring end-state versus the intermediate, challenging targets. To align the member of an organization, in a way that it's poised to achieve what's ahead of it, there should be a big inspiring goal, that everyone can relate with and feel a part of. This bigger picture is motivation beyond money, to take ownership and initiative, and do whatever they can to help the whole company move closer to its goal. This must be balanced with small chunks of achievable but challenging goals so that people are able to see the path before they can achieve it. Another discussion was about balancing control between those at the top, and people at different hierarchies of the whole system. It is important for people to not only feel a part of the mission but also feel a sense of and have the actual ability to bring a change beyond their functional capacity. This brings evokes energy and enthusiasm at all levels, and people do not feel as if 'they are being forced to do something' but that they are doing what's right and leading up their organization towards success. The third discussion is about striking a balance between developing the capabilities of the workforce and pressuring them for results. In the recent past, well-established companies like IBM and Cisco took the layoff route, getting rid of a chunk of their workforce, whose capabilities were not in alignment with where the companies wanted to head, strategically. Had they focussed from the beginning to promote and facilitate learning, they would not have to resort to such drastic measures and also prevent loss of resources in severances, and future recruiting. For the successful execution of a strategy, this aspect cannot be overlooked. The fourth and final tension that should be battled with is of creativity v/s discipline. Creativity allows for innovative approaches to problem-solving and enables managers to be adaptable in cases of industry transitions. However, a creative exploration often does lead to approaches that don't work, or sometimes produce ideas the audience is not ready to accept. Contrasting this with discipline, which allows a company to execute tasks in a structured format. Discipline is extremely effective to be successful when you know where you are going, but with today's connected world, where industries are upturned overnight, having the capability to involve creativity with discipline will go a long way.   

Resources:
[1] https://hbr.org/2017/11/good-strategy-execution-requires-balancing-4-tensions
[2] https://insights.dice.com/2019/08/02/ibm-layoffs-ageism-age-discrimination/
[3] https://www.ibtimes.com/cisco-layoffs-2019-500-lose-jobs-engineering-san-jose-milpitas-2814058