The Forgotten Social Side of Strategy

Whenever people talk about strategy, there typically is a strong overemphasis on the cognitive, intellectual side. The focus is usually on analysis, decisions, planning, KPIs, OKRs; on what the organization’s strategy should be and which actions are needed to implement it.

But, there’s also a social, relational side to strategy that is at least as important, but which receives far less attention than it deserves. Developing and implementing strategy affects people’s mindset, positions and relationships. Without also addressing these social aspects, any strategy is doomed to fail.?

To rebalance this imbalance, we need to pay more attention to the social side of strategy. We can do so along three key dimensions: strategy content, strategy process, and strategy context.

Strategy Content: Motivation and Excitement as Driving Force?

In order to be successfully executed, a strategy must be embraced by the people that need to execute it. This means that a strategy must not only be beneficial from an economic or organizational perspective; it must also bring something for the people working for that organization.?

The days that we could treat organizations as homogenous wholes, and employees as obedient resources, are over—if they ever existed. Organizations consist of people and it is these people who do the work and whose individual motivations matter a great deal.?

This means that, in developing and assessing strategies, the needs, motivations and expectations of people need to be included as key criteria. Because, a strategy that would be perfect on paper from an economic or business perspective, is still going to fail if it does not meet these needs, or fails to create the necessary excitement.?

On the other hand, a strategy that excites and motivates people is almost unstoppable, even if far from perfect from a business perspective.?

Strategy Process: Creating Ownership and Contribution

The social side of strategy is also key when we look at the strategy process; at how a strategy is developed and who is involved. Decades of research on motivation shows that people are generally motivated if they can contribute and feel a sense of ownership. This applies to strategy as well.?

In theory, strategy could be developed by executives and consultants. They have built up significant business acumen and should have oversight and a thorough understanding of strategy, as well as the organization and the industry it operates in. Based on that, they should be able to come up with a good enough strategy. Details and different perspectives will be missing, but overall the direction could be quite clear.

However, by just emphasizing this cognitive aspect of strategizing, we miss a crucial aspect. Involving employees in the strategy process is not only useful for bringing in their perspectives. At least as important, or even more, is that, if done well, this creates a sense of ownership and contribution. Once this is present, this makes the adoption and execution of the strategy much smoother.?

Treated as the social process it is, strategizing empowers people to contribute and creates a sense of ownership among all involved.?

Strategy Context: The Effect on Mindset, Positions and Relationships

A third element of the social side of strategy concerns its effect on people. We’re used to thinking in terms of the effect on an organization: new processes, a change in infrastructure, integration of IT systems, and so on. But, if there’s one significant and often disruptive effect of a new strategy, it is on people.?

Strategy implies change. And typically, substantial change across an organization. Such change can have a deep and profound effect on the people working there. The new strategy may require a change in mindset and culture and it often affects things like power, hierarchy, communication, proximity, interaction, and virtually every other aspect of human relationships.?

While often approached from a change management perspective as simply one of the factors to overcome during execution—often reduced to “resistance”—understanding this third social aspect of strategy is critical if we want the strategy to be successful. Not just during the execution phase, but throughout the entire process.?

Taking into account the deep effect a new strategy can have on mindset, positions and relationships paves the way for successful implementation.

Looking Ahead: Soulful Strategy

With its emphasis on the cognitive side, traditional strategy is often soulless strategy. It is “cold” and clinical and developed based on what seems economically best for the organization. Strategy can’t be that reductionist anymore. We need it to be more than that; human-centered, social, soulful.?

Soulful Strategy is strategy that deeply pays attention to these three social aspects of strategy. Not just from a content perspective; also from a process and context perspective. It leads to a strategy that people want, that they own, and that they accept the consequences of.

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Further Reading

• What Sinek’s “Why” Is Not About
• Three Stages of Organizational Culture
• What Drives What We Do?
• The 20 Qualities of Heart-Centered Leadership
• How to Attract and Retain Talent through Participative Strategizing?