How to improve the design and execution of strategy
Good communication - Avoiding apparent stupidity
Back to strategy
diseases
Likely symptoms of problems
“They don’t get it”. “I wish I knew what
was going on”.
Those who need to execute the strategy do not understand it.
Preliminary diagnosis
Research has shown that as low as 5% of the people in an organisation
understand the strategy. As few as 30% may actually have seen
it. If the first figure is out by a factor of 10, it still means
that half the organisation do not understand what it is trying
to achieve. That is scary.
Its not for want of trying. Most organisations spend a lot of
time talking about the strategy and setting people objectives
so that they are aligned. So where does it go wrong?
Case study
To communicate a large change in strategy through an international
insurance company we adopted a variety of methods within a coordinated
communication plan. Central to the whole plan was the cascade
of telling the story of the strategy.
First we identified advocates who would be trained in the communication
of the strategy. We helped them understand and own, not only the
strategy, but how to tell the story in different ways. There was
a very visual presentation of the strategy as a one page diagram.
There was a simple written version explained the details behinds
the approach. There were financial models and numeric targets
of varying complexity. There were even symbols to act as reminders
of the key points. Importantly, the story was told with passion
and commitment by senior managers and peers to each group.
The design of this approach deliberately communicated the same
coherent strategy, in parallel, yet different, ways. Designed
to touch people who thought in different ways. Other aspects of
the plan address where those people were coming from and how they
would react to the strategy.
The way the strategy was operated also used all these means of
communication. These were not just one-off events. It was part
of a new way of communicating in that organisation, that built
the foundation for two-way feedback on the strategy and how it
affected staff and customers.
It was central to ensuring that the underlying reasons for the
change and how it would be executed were understood and owned.
Underlying solutions
People think in different ways. They are at different places.
It has not got through because it has never been communicated
to them in a way that addresses their thinking styles and paced
their current thinking – where their head is at the moment.
The approaches we use do precisely that. By using techniques
to communicate the strategy that are visual, numeric, verbal,
tactile and emotional, we touch different people's thinking styles
in different ways.
By taking the time to understand where they are coming from,
their current thinking and aspirations we are able to pace their
current thinking and then bring them along to the new ways of
thinking.
Back to strategy
diseases
next disease
|
