Strategy Academy. Resources based on our strategy execution framework.

Don’t go in blind - do some basic research. You’ll need to understand where you fit into your industry or organization, how your competitors operate, and what your strengths and weaknesses are. Know your place in your world.

If everything turns out perfectly, where will the organization be at the end of your plan’s timeline? Work your way backward from there to come up with a realistic, ambitious roadmap.

What are the most important outcomes to achieve this quarter? This year? Don’t overload yourself, though. These are headlines to set a clear direction, and it’s better to be laser-focused on a handful of outcomes at a time than to bloat your plan right away.

These aren’t just posters on the wall anymore! Ensure everyone is aware of how your people should represent your teams to push the organization forward. Develop a strong sense of collective identity, and shout it!

Given your outcomes, how will you get there? How will you know when you arrive? Use a combination of strategic projects to pave the way to your outcomes, and use specific metrics to help gauge how close you are to the end goal. Just like with the outcomes, don’t overload yourself. Set some monthly targets and be ready to reassess every week!

Everything has ONE main owner, with collaborators as needed. Remember that if an entire team “owns” something, nobody actually owns it. Every meeting should have a clear owner and a separate note taker to help with next steps in between meetings.

What should the context of these discussions be, and how often should they happen? How do these reports and visuals need to look, and how do they come together? Give every team a chance to explain what they care about.

Are you getting the full picture of what your plans entail? Make sure essential systems are integrated into your strategy. The more centralized your strategy can be, the better.

Once decided, get recurring meetings on the calendar. Make sure the agendas are focused and consistent, and everyone is aware of what to expect going into these discussions.

When new things come up, always ask yourself: “Will this work help us achieve our shared goals for the organization?” If not, question it! Plenty of operational work can’t be ignored, but there are always places where we can be more focused.

Failing and breaking things is totally ok, as long as you are able to correct course, quickly. That's how most of business giants got to where they are today. By failing early & fast, we learn and can adapt quickly, compared to failing slowly and causing long term damage. A culture with a fear of experimenting and innovating because they might fail is not a good culture.

We’re all about democratizing strategy. Your people wouldn’t be where they are if they didn’t have creative value to offer. Make sure they understand how important they are to your vision!

The best ideas should win every time. Period. Create a culture of transparency where everyone is encouraged to bring ideas forward, debate them, and move forward together. Don’t lose team continuity, though. Once a decision is made, everyone needs to support it.

Provide teams and individuals with autonomy, the power to make decisions, and ownership over projects. You will get better results, have less staff turnover, provide a more engaging and enjoyable experience for employees, all while getting higher quality outcomes with greater long term success.

What if everyone knew what was most important for them to focus on at any given time? Alignment makes this possible. Strong communication and regular engagement with your plan is essential here, and you can do it!

Your plan and organization will go as you go. Staying focused and engaged with the best-possible path forward is what separates winners from losers. Your strategy is your map - don’t throw it away! Leverage your meetings and other tactics to always keep the plan top-of-mind.

It’s one thing to say something is “on track,” but it’s quite another to prove it! Inevitably, there is always a mix of subjective and objective context to the story behind your strategy. Give people the freedom and courage to express themselves, while always bringing it back to evidence and facts.

Each day is full of learning opportunities. Use weekly check-ins to summarize and assess the situation as a team. Given what was achieved this week, what should we expect next week? Given that outlook, how will this path impact our goals?

If you have a question about something, you are almost certainly not the only one. If something doesn’t look right, call it out in a productive way. Asking tough questions early helps everyone in the long run.

Make sure every team clearly understands how they can impact the organization’s vision. Sharing a purpose is a major accelerator of strategic success.

Never settle. No matter how great you think your plans are, be ready for the unexpected. Choose a path to focus on, but have other paths available as back-ups.

Use the strategy to elevate your people when they do the right thing. When good things happen related to the strategy, it’s a big deal! Make sure everyone knows it. When things don’t go as planned, learn from it and move on together.

Remember, the plan and organization move as you ALL move. When major outcomes are achieved, everyone needs to feel it. Announce major achievements on a big stage, and give credit by name and team as much as possible.

Know how to disengage from things that are not helping you all achieve your goals. Set a tone that encourages people to focus on what matters, and nothing else. Plans will have twists and turns over time, so learn to embrace this and push forward. If you communicate well and are transparent with your reasoning, your teams will enjoy the ride!

It takes commitment to let go of the “old” ways of doing strategy. Embrace regular review with high likelihood of change without losing sight of your larger vision. You need to keep up with the world around you - don’t be complacent!