Execution of Strategy

Strategy is mostly about change and change is hard. Peter Drucker writes, “Management has no choice but to anticipate the future, to attempt to mold it, and to balance short-range and long-range goals. It is not given to mortals to do well any of these things.”

Later Drucker emphasizes that at the strategic level there “is a need for an organ of the enterprise which concerns itself with the gap – always a big one – between what the organization stands for and what it actually does. There is a need for an organ concerned with vision and values in the key areas. Again, this can only be an organ of the enterprise that sees and comprehends the entire business.”

We are mortals and there will always be a gap between what we seek to become and what we are today. But this need not be a proof of complacency or evidence of hypocrisy – if we are committed to a principled engagement with the challenges that face us.

The descendents of Jacob are more commonly called Israelites. Midway through his life Jacob assumed a new name. On the edge of disaster – again – he withdrew into the wilderness to struggle with reality. Overnight he wrestled with God. In the morning God gave Jacob a new name, “You shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with humans and prevailed.” (Genesis 32:28) Israel means God wrestler.

The execution of strategy is a never-ending wrestling match. Jacob prevailed by not giving up. Jacob continued to encounter challenge after challenge. But he was committed to the struggle, committed to doing his best to transform his current condition into something closer to the ultimate reality envisioned.

Communicating the vision, forging the links, weaving the web of linkages, creating a culture that integrates belief and behavior, making the tough choices, and recovering from the bad choices – this is a life of challenge that requires a profound commitment.

Donald N. Sull, a Harvard Business School professor, writes, “Successful managers all excel in the making, honoring, and remaking of commitments. Managerial commitments take many forms, from capital investments to hiring decisions to public statements, but each commitment exerts both immediate and enduring influence on the company. Over time and in combination, a leader’s commitments shape a business’s identity, define its strengths, and weaknesses, establish its opportunities and limitations, and set its direction.”

Executing strategy is about transforming the enterprise. Sull argues that transformation is usually the result of three sequential and linked commitments: selecting an anchor, securing the anchor, and aligning the organization around the anchor. For me Sull’s anchor is very similar to Porter’s theme. Ikea’s anchor is the link between affordability and variety. Moses chose the link between righteousness and justice. Sull writes,

To overcome the forces of organizational inertia – not to mention the skepticism that greets any change management effort – managers need to aggressively promote the new anchor and take concrete actions to secure it… When it comes to securing and anchor, not just any action will work. Effective transforming commitments share three characteristics. First, they are clear. Simple and concrete messages can be passed through an organization with minimum distortion, while vague or complex ones end up being distorted beyond recognition. Second they are credible. Employees, customers, investors, and partners must believe that the manager is serious, about her commitments and will stick with them. Otherwise, a new anchor may be viewed as cheap talk that can safely be ignored. Finally, they are courageous. The new anchor and securing actions must make the status quo untenable; they can’t leave room for retreat… Once the anchor is set and secure, all of the organization’s other frames, processes, resources, relationships, and values must be reconfigured to support it… Commitments define individuals just as they do organizations. They enable and constrain. They provide continuity over time. They make us what we are. Understanding the link between personal ethos and professional commitment is, in the end, what allows good managers to become great leaders.

In crafting and executing effective strategy, your personal self and your professional self cannot be separated, much less in conflict, there must be a coherent and complete commitment. Without this level of commitment the strength to persist in the long-term strategic struggle will be impossible.