These are the Internal Roadblocks that Can Derail Your New Strategy

How “fear of change” and other internal forces can hurt your strategy 

When companies design and implement new strategies, they tend to focus on external factors such as industry trends and competitor moves. But, much like life itself, internal struggles can be the most significant stumbling blocks. 

For many companies, successfully implementing a new strategy means overcoming a series of internal hurdles. When companies fail to do so, even the most promising strategies cannot take off. If you are a decision maker considering a major strategic pivot, it’s vital that you identify, address, and overcome the most common internal hurdles that can obstruct your plans.

Fear of change and the unknown

Few forces inhibit a company’s growth potential as much as “fear of change.” I’ve written about how employee aversion to change, and inertia can affect companies and their employees. Often, though, executives are just as guilty of being afraid of change. While fear is a natural part of being human, change is an essential part of successfully implementing strategic initiatives.

When executives don’t fully understand the importance of a change initiative, they’re likely to dismiss it. This often happens when executives can’t grasp thinking outside of their own corporate silos or their specific roles. When these executives do not respect that everyone does not think alike, it can cause “corporate paralysis.” When this happens, your organization does not move because people do not embrace change.

Executives and decision makers must acknowledge that people are different. We think differently, we have different approaches and ideas—and that’s a good thing! It means that a diverse perspective can contribute to the right strategic initiatives, and it means that there is no one rule for how to guide a company. By ignoring this, companies create a culture of exclusion.

Fear of the unknown can also provoke executives to distrust their colleagues, which can damage a company’s bottom line. As Brightline Principle seven states, you have to be able to rely on and trust the people around you to get things done. The principle also insists that you have to keep moving forward, even when you don’t necessarily have all the information you would like to have before making a big decision. It is just impossible to make a risk-free decision and embracing the unknown can be rewarding. Executives should buy in, buckle up, and own their decisions!

Inadequate communication

When a company announces a new strategic move, the first thought for many employees is “What does this mean for my job?” At the Brightline Initiative, we recently published the People Manifesto. One of its sections, “People Act in Their Own Self Interest,” explores this very issue. It talks about how an executive should understand what drives a team’s interests. If they don’t, they will never be able to make a change. And, if people do not understand how a new strategy will affect them, they will not buy into it.

This is why communication is key. With any new strategic change, decision makers must sufficiently communicate to employees why a decision has been made, the specifics of what is changing, and how those changes will manifest themselves day-to-day in both the near- and long-term. 

Going too fast (or too slow)

As the saying goes, timing is everything. Some external factors, such as unexpected events and market fluctuations, are out of the control of individuals. Decision makers are in the driver’s seat, however, when it comes to the timing and cadence of new strategies, and the pace at which they introduce them to internal teams.

Senior decision makers should always think twice before rushing to implement a new strategy. Moving too fast risks alienating the key stakeholders whose advocacy is often essential to pushing a new strategy through. On the other hand, moving too slowly can result in missing critical windows of opportunity, as well as losing enthusiasm and momentum among employees. Strategies that sit for too long risk never seeing the light of day. Instead, they’re replaced by newer, fresher alternatives.

This is why regularly evaluating your existing portfolio of strategic initiatives is a crucial step toward ensuring that your organization can handle the workload and the change needed. Executives and decision makers must do this as part of their routine. It can also help identify any current issues and allow the team to take action as fast as they can.

Remember Brightline’s 10th Principle

The Brightline principles, like the ones mentioned here, offer actionable advice on how to overcome internal challenges to transform bold ideas into useful results. The last of those principles—Principle 10—is a perfect way to make people feel good about overcoming some of these hurdles. Change is tough—there’s no sense in beating around the bush. This is why every organization should celebrate success and recognize those who have done great work. After all, if actions speak louder than words, those actions deserve bold and positive recognition from organizations and the people who run them.

You should always remember, recognition drives happiness, which drives performance, which drives results—and results are what matter.

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