Thinking about strategy and the successful execution thereof is something we do all day at i-nexus. By now, our views on the growing market trend in linking formulation and implementation should be clear. What I’d like to talk about in this article are the skills required in each phase as well as the pitfalls associated with doing only formulation or implementation well.

1. Strategy Implementation
– Blending the Creative and the Commercial for Success
Thinking about strategy and the successful execution thereof is something we do all day at i-nexus.
By now, our views on the growing market trend in linking formulation and implementation should
be clear. What I’d like to talk about in this article are the skills required in each phase as well as the
pitfalls associated with doing only formulation or implementation well.
The process of strategy formulation is essentially an
outward looking activity that switches its focus
inwards at a point. Any decent strategy needs a robust
environmental scan or analysis completed so as to
ensure that the resulting strategy doesn’t read like a
fairy tale. Although there is a common view that
strategy formulation is a very creative process, I would
argue that it’s primarily a commercial process. There
is certainly space for creative flashes and insights,
however there is no substitute for understanding the
market, how customer needs are changing, what
competitors are doing etc. Great ideas will make a great strategy, but they’re not sufficient. They
need to be based on a proper view of the reality of the environment in which the strategy is to take
effect and what the commercial value or advantage would be if successful.
Strategy implementation on the other hand is about
focus and communication. The problem with many
implementations start when the CEO and team feel
that the power point deck communicated twice to the
business is the implementation! There are simply too
many distractions at work for the middle management
team to be focused on the implementation of the
strategy unless they’re either forced to or encouraged
to. Sometimes there’s a fine line between the two.
Unless implementation activities can be seen to be
explicitly linked to breakthrough objectives and
management can see in real time, the extent of
progress being or not being made, I’m afraid that
implementation will remain a fairy tale.

2. It is in addressing these issues amongst others, that Hoshin planning methodology has become so
prevalent and popular. Some of the reasons for this would include:
Use of Hoshin’s x-matrix to transparently and visually cascade and show the links between
breakthrough objectives, medium term goals and implementation priorities and projects. This would
include an individually focused view of
various accountable resources and progress
being made to achieve the relevant KPI’s;
Using the collaborative Hoshin catchball
process, the voices of those involved in the
implementation of the strategy on the
ground can contribute to and be part of the
decisions being made. This also ensures that
the inevitable hard decisions are made by
people who understand the reasons behind
the decisions, significantly increasing the
commitment and ability to successfully
implement them. This would include
decisions regarding resourcing, budget and
other support implementation team to
achieve the objectives that are identified;
The key concept of regular reviews held across the business by those people directly accountable for
managing and implementing the strategy. Here those involved are able to focus on reviewing real time
reports shaped around agreed key leading and lagging indicators aligned to the breakthrough
objectives. This enables them to identify successes or problem areas and decide on any actions in real
time to reinforce or rectify the situation thus ensuring they are on track to achieve the overall
objectives.
As is clear from the above, the transparent and reliable provision of real
time information relating to project implementation progress and the
achievement of KPI’s aligned to overall breakthrough objectives would be
critical. Fortunately this is where strategy execution software tools like i-
nexus who were recently designated a 2014 Cool Vendor by Gartner for
Business Process Management, can close the gap between strategy
formulation and implementation, providing the solution backbone so that
complete visibility, transparency and accountability are created around
the strategy execution process. i-nexus software includes market leading
Hoshin planning tools such as the x-matrix.
So focusing on the implementation even during the strategy formulation phase is of paramount
importance. While this is easier said than done, there are numerous proven tools and methodologies
that can assist companies as referred to above. In the absence of this, lack of focus on
implementation could be akin to Snow White eating that poisoned apple. The only problem is that
you may not be able to rely on the handsome prince to get your business out of the resulting coma.
I welcome your feedback and comments
Grant Crow, i-nexus CEO
Let's Connect on LinkedIn
e-mail: grant.crow@i-nexus.com
i-nexus