The Human Side of Strategy
You've spent months meticulously planning an epic vacation with friends. You've researched flights, accommodations, and activities, and have shared all the details with everyone. Each person has acknowledged the plan, so everything should fall into place smoothly, right? Except, it turns out one person mistakenly booked a different hotel than everyone else. Another decided to invite their in-laws and is now asking if anyone has extra space in their room. To top it off, one individual revealed after all the arrangements were made that they never wanted to come in the first place but felt obligated to say yes. Now, they are considering canceling and are polling the group to see if anyone else wants to cancel.
Sound familiar?
Maybe you've experienced something similar while developing a Strategic Plan. After months of work—from conducting an environmental scan to engaging with a broad range of interested parties—you've outlined strategic goals and set priorities for each focus area.
However, some time has passed, and it's difficult to gauge progress on these key areas. You have a solid roadmap, yet progress seems elusive. Despite all your planning, analysis, and engagement, you feel lost. Those who were involved in the process don’t seem that interested any more or can’t recall what priorities have been set and why.
Just like planning a trip, the successful implementation of a Strategic Plan requires more than just following a roadmap. It demands understanding how to collaborate effectively, leverage diverse skill sets, and foster a culture of teamwork.
Ultimately, it's about mastering the human side of strategy.
Despite having clear strategic objectives, navigating the complexities of teamwork and collaboration can be daunting. This becomes especially apparent when we're striving to execute our plans efficiently, showcase tangible results, and foster a cohesive working environment.
To alleviate this challenge, it is important to spend time exploring:
How the team will distinguish and navigate, emergent, important, and urgent matters, respond to changing circumstances, and stay the course during challenging times.
The values, behaviors and commitments that help to achieve long term goals and ensure proactive and regulator planning and implementation.
The importance of articulating a vision and direction, analyzing complexity and anticipating future trends, assessing risks, leading through transformation, cultivating relationships, and monitoring progress, all through Strategic Leadership.
Join me in this series as I unpack these human-centered opportunities to bridge the gap between Strategic Plan development and implementation.