Tight linkage between Strategy and Execution can be very challenging for a number of reasons. Sometimes the strategy is based on inaccurate or incomplete assumptions about the business’s capabilities and the opportunity being pursued. In other cases, unexpected developments make execution more challenging or even render the strategy obsolete. But even when the strategy isContinue reading “How Strategy Becomes Execution… and the Many Reasons It Doesn’t”
Author Archives: Jon Sappey
What Could “Being (More) Strategic” Look Like?
Throughout my career, I’ve seen surveys where business leaders bemoan the lack of time available for strategic thinking because they’re always stuck in the day-to-day. Even meetings that are supposedly dedicated to Strategy (capital S) have a tendency to revert to immediate issues and opportunities. I freely acknowledge this “tyranny of the urgent,” but I’veContinue reading “What Could “Being (More) Strategic” Look Like?”
The Leadership Problem with a Finance-Driven Annual Planning Process
Tis the season for getting 2023 business plans and corresponding budgets nailed down. There will be much wailing and gnashing of teeth as YOY comparisons and Excel macros are updated. Sometimes, more sophisticated planning and budgeting tools are available, but the process is largely the same. And almost always driven by the Finance team. NothingContinue reading “The Leadership Problem with a Finance-Driven Annual Planning Process”
What’s So Great About a Corporate Narrative?
Developing and executing a Corporate Narrative is one of the highest-leverage activities that an executive team can undertake. It creates context, clarity, and momentum for a business that accelerates progress toward its mission. It galvanizes and unifies leadership in a singular voice that drives performance, direction, and culture – setting the stage for prioritization, resource allocation, and change.
Change-Continuity Ratio
My last post on Strategy and Change sparked some interesting commentary on the topic of “how much change and how fast?” and got me thinking about optimizing the balance of Change and Continuity in an organization. Expressing it as a ratio is a logical follow-on. With that idea rattling around in my mind, I readContinue reading “Change-Continuity Ratio”
Strategy and Change
Practicing strategy ensures the diffusion of the strategy into the organization through defining long-term and supporting short-term goals, aligning performance management against those goals, and creating budgets to support the achievement of the goals.
Strategy Debt
Recently I have co-authored a series of short articles on Strategy Debt with my colleague at INSTEP, Brian Nejmeh. The concept of Strategy Debt arose out of the software industry and the well-established concept of Technical Debt. Our premise is that Strategy Debt can arise from a wider set of organizational circumstances — not justContinue reading “Strategy Debt”
Rethinking Strategy in 2021
Given the global developments of the past several years, and the economic, political, environmental, and social challenges we face today, it seems appropriate to step back and consider the role that Strategy can play. What should strategists think and do? How is this different from the way Strategy has been practiced in the past? TheContinue reading “Rethinking Strategy in 2021”
Forrester Research: “Creativity Leaders” grow 2.6x faster than “Creativity Laggards”
Earlier this week Forrester Research hosted an online event, “The Tech Org’s Secret Weapon: Creativity.” It was a pandemic lunch hour well spent, and you can listen to the recording here. Here’s the most significant finding from among their analysts: companies that successfully turn Creativity into an operating principle – which they define as anContinue reading “Forrester Research: “Creativity Leaders” grow 2.6x faster than “Creativity Laggards””
Creating Clarity and Momentum Podcast
I was delighted to be a guest on the CFO Alliance’s Level Up podcast, talking about how practicing strategy creates clarity and momentum in organizations. Have a listen! https://www.achievenext.com/blogs/jeremy-weisz1/2021/09/17/creating-momentum-and-clarity
Strategy, Creativity, and Leadership 