Читать книгу Move - Azzarello Patty - Страница 16

This is one of the most interesting things that I find in my work with companies on executing their strategies. The problem is not just a communication gap between the executives and the team....It's that no one anywhere in the organization has articulated what the team needs to do to implement the new strategy.

Once you launch your new strategy, when everyone wakes up the next morning, what is different – specifically?

A company can be really clear about what it wants to accomplish, yet struggle to articulate the specific tasks that will make those goals come true.

For example, if your goal is to improve market perception, and everyone agrees on that goal, you can't just tell your team, “Go forth and improve market perception.” You need to do some work to clarify in what manner you will accomplish that. Will you train your salespeople to engage differently? Will you change your marketing message? Will you improve your relationships with market analysts and media? Will you change your product? Will you create a new customer service offer?

When I take management teams through my Strategy into Action program, this lack of clarity about what the organization needs to do in the “Middle” is what we focus on the most. We shine a big spotlight on defining what the specific approach is in the Middle to make the end goals come true. I have taken countless leadership teams through this process, and this basic idea about strategy always works:

A strategy must describe what you will do, including how you will measure and resource it. Strategy must clarify specific action.

An end goal, no matter how inspiring it is, is not enough to mobilize an organization. What it gives you is a list of wishes, not an actual strategy. But by insisting that your strategy describes what you will do, you will by definition be making it clear what things need to happen in the Middle.