10 Reasons Why Strategy Execution Fails

Exhausted for being unable to grow your business? Struggling to survive in Covid-19 new normal? Feeling stuck while executing your strategy?

Well, you are not alone.

The question here really is, Why.

Why are you not being able to grow or survive your business? Why are you failing in executing your strategy? And, why strategy execution is failing irrespective of your best intentions and efforts?

Perhaps you are not correctly addressing one or more of the reasons that fail strategy execution.

Top 10 Reasons Why Strategy Execution Fails are:

Yes. Last two reasons are bonus reasons.

Now, let’s go through short description of each reason.

?1.????No Defined Problems

Your strategy doesn’t address your firm’s main issues that impede its growth or survival.

2.????Executors Not Involved Early

Key people from execution teams are not engaged in strategy formulation and business planning. Only top, middle and first level management is engaged.

3.????Goals Dressed As Strategy

Your strategy does not cover “How” part. A well thought-out action plan is missing. Your strategy is dealing with contradicting goals.

4.????Communication Framework Not Structured

Your firm do not have a structured communication framework to align strategy meetings (annual, quarter and monthly). Your strategy needs a communication strategy.

5.????No Thinking Involved

Your strategy is all about rolling budgets, financial forecasts and risks involved. This is based on data analysis and analytics only. There is no creativity involved in it.

6.????Culture Not Transformed

Culture is not assessed & reformed for its under lying issues.

Two examples are people working in silos, and departments or business units improving without considering overall business (sub-optimization).

7.????Un-realistic Objectives

Your strategy addresses business objectives that are not achievable. Overambitious.

8.????Not Measuring What Matters

You’re measuring too many KPIs which are NOT:

Focused (Few critical ones),

Aligned (Supporting, not contradicting each other);

Transparent (Visible); and

Regular.

9.????Fluff

Focus of your strategy is using impressive nice slogans & trendy buzzwords to make you feel intelligent.

10.??Leadership Dysfunctions Not Addressed

Leaders & teams are not assessed for issues like absence of trust, fear of conflict & lack of commitment. Issues like avoidance of accountability & inattention to results are not tackled effectively.

11.?Cookie-cutter Strategy

Strategy is based on template style thinking i.e. fill in the blanks type format.

12.?No Flexibility

Your strategy is not dynamic. Business environment is changing rapidly. So does short term business objectives. Strategy shall adapt to such changes as well. Days of static annual strategic plans are gone.

Questions to ponder:

Have strategy execution failed in your past (or current) firms?

If it happened, what was the main reason behind?

What will you do next time to prevent strategy execution failure?

What will you like to add in this list?