The Definitive Guide To Boost your Strategy

Execution Skills
By Jeroen De Flander – Last updated June 24th, 2016

Strategy execution is something successful leaders focus on. According to research published in The
Harvard Business Review, “Companies realize only 40-to-60 percent of their strategies’ potential
value”. Successful leaders know these numbers and understand it takes much more than a great
strategy to be number one. You need to turn that great strategy into great performance.
That’s where strategy execution comes in. It bridges the gap between brilliant strategies and superior
performance. Led by Balanced Scorecard icons Kaplan and Norton and best-selling authors Bossidy
and Charan, Strategy Execution has become a fast-growing bleep on the radar screens of top
executives. But simply appearing on that radar is not enough to make it happen. Each company,
large or small, needs to master crucial Strategy Execution skills. And that’s where this guide can
help you to boost your strategy execution skills and knowledge
Check out the table of contents below for some quick jumping around.
Updates to this Strategy Execution article
This article has been kept up to date with the best strategy execution practices since December 2012.
The most recent update was on June 24th, 2016.
The goal of this strategy execution guide is to let all the info of all the different blog posts, articles
and ebooks I wrote about strategy execution, here and on other sites, fall into one big piece: the
ultimate strategy execution tutorial!
1. 1. Strategy Execution needs a sound Strategy
1. 1.1. 7 things every leader should know about strategy
2. 1.2. 7 habits of great strategists
3. 1.3. 8 strategy questions every CEO should ask
4. 1.4. Inspiring Strategy Quotes
2. 2. Strategy Execution definition
3. 3. Strategy Execution model
1. 3.1. The 8, a simple strategy execution model
2. 3.2. The model building blocks
4. 4. Strategy Communication
1. 4.1. Reach for the head, heart and hands
5. 5. Strategy Execution Cascade
1. 5.1. Facts and figures about the Balanced Scorecard
2. 5.2. The Balanced Scorecard: upstream and downstream movement
3. 5.3. The 4 benefits of a Balanced Scorecard
4. 5.4. 14 tips to get the most out of your Balanced Scorecard
6. 6. Individual Goal Setting
1. 6.1. 12 insights from 100 goal-setting studies with 40,000 individuals
2. 6.2. Six secret success factors for best-in-class goal setting
7. 7. Performance Coaching
1. 7.1. 6 things every leader should know about coaching
2. 7.2. The GROW coaching model
8. 8. Strategy Execution Quotes
9. 9. Strategy and Strategy Execution Trends
1. 9.1. Shared Value: a new approach to capitalism
2. 9.2. From time management to energy management
3. 9.3. Individual performance cycle goes agile
4. 9.4. Execution skills in the picture in leadership programmes
1. Strategy Execution needs a sound Strategy
A solid strategy execution is driven by a solid strategy. No matter how well you execute, if you set
off in the wrong direction, all execution efforts are just a waste of time and energy. Think about the
saying ‘rubbish in, rubbish out’. An execution hero needs to know what a solid strategy is made of
and should be able to spot a poor one and challenge it properly.
1.1. 7 things every leader should know about strategy
‘Strategy’ is a cool word. Business people like to use it. It leaves a good impression with your
audience if you talk about strategy. It’s even expected from a certain seniority level in an
organisation. But strategy is probably also the most over and misused word in business language.
Most people who use it don’t really know what strategy is all about. And I often have the impression
that the more someone uses the word ‘strategy’ in a conversation, the less they know about the
subject. Here’s a list a 7 things I believe every leader should know about strategy. Know these inside
out and you will do better than 80 percent of the managers that you will come across.
1. Compete to be unique, not to be the best
Strategy is not about being the best, but about being unique. Competing to be the best in business is
one of the major misconceptions about strategy. And if you only remember one tip from this list, it
should be this one. Many leaders compare competition in business with the world of sports. There
can only be one winner. But competing in business is more complex. There can be several winners.
It does not have to be a zero sum game – you win, I lose or vice versa. Within a single industry, you
can have several companies beating the industry average, each with a distinctive, different strategy.
They are no direct threat to each other. There can be several winners. So the worst possible approach
to strategy is to seek out the biggest player in the industry and try to copy everything th ey do.
2. Strategy = compete for profit
Business is not about having the largest market share or about growing fast. It’s about making
money. ‘I want to grow my business’ is not a strategy. ‘I want to grow my business’ is the same as
saying, ‘I want to be rich’. Those things (unfortunately) don’t happen by themselves. Growing is not
a strategy, it’s a consequence. When someone includes growth in their strategy, there should be an
orange light starting to blink. That does not mean that you cannot use the wor d ‘growth’. I use it a
lot in the analysis phase – for example, when you talk about growth areas of the business or when
you look for growth platforms – areas where you can reach potential that will give you additional
profit.
3. Know your industry
A company is not an island – it’s part of a larger ecosystem, an industry. Each industry has its own
characteristics, its own structure. This structure and the relative position your company has within
the industry determines profitability. Certain industries have a higher return than others. Your
thinking about the industry and industry competition will determine your thinking about your
strategy – how you are going to compete within the industry. The better you know and understand
the industry, the better you will be able to determine elements that will make you stand out, be
unique and reap a higher average return than the industry average.
4. Strategy synonym= Choice
In my eyes, this is the most simple strategy definition or a strategy synonym. You need a clear
choice of WHO you are going to serve and a clear choice of HOW you are going to serve those
clients. It’s about connecting the outside world – the demand side – with your company – the supply
side. Or in fancy terms: you need a value proposition for a specific customer segment and to develop
unique activities in the value chain to serve them.
The key word is ‘choice’. You cannot be everything to everybody. You want to target a limited
segment of potential buyers with the same needs. Next, you are going to tailor your activities in such
a way that they meet these needs. Or in fancy terms: you want to tailor your value chain – your
company’s activities – to your value proposition. Strategic innovation is the process to make those
choices – defining a new who and how for the organisation. So next time when some asks, “What is

strategy”, you have a simple answer

5. Learn to say NO
If you have clearly defined what you go for – a clear value proposition for a specific client segment
(who) and a set of distinct, unique activities in your value chain to offer the needs of this client
group (what), you will find out that there are lots of things that you are not going to do. There will
be customers that you are not going to serve, activities that you are not going to perform and
services/products that you will not be offering. In strategy, choosing what not to do is equally
important. Using the words of the founding father of modern strategy thinking, Michael Porter: “The
essence of strategy is choosing what not to do”. Each strategy should also have a section where it
clearly states the noes.
6. Don’t ever stand still
Having a good strategy means that you have arrived. Competitors move, customers’ needs and
behaviors change, technology evolves. One crucial element to determine a future path for your
company is to predict these evolutions and trends and incorporate this thinking into the strategy -
building process. If you don’t, you can miss out on new value that is created in the industry or even
left behind and get into trouble. Think about the smart phone and Nokia and you’ll understand.
7. Scenario thinking is an important strategy tool
Facts and figures can only go so far. You need to turn data into assumptions that will fuel your
reflection process. The standard way to work with assumptions in a structured way is by scenario
thinking – fix some parameters and let other vary. This technique helps your reflection process by
offering you possible future routes (read: strategic options) for the company. I believe that sc enario
thinking is a crucial skill for anyone who wants to deal with strategy. Every leader should at least
master the basics so that they don’t need a strategy consultant for every reflection process or at least
to help them challenge the scenario models that the strategy consultant presents.
1.2. 7 Habits of great strategists
To become a strategy execution hero, it pays to invest in learning about strategy. A great strategy is
the starting point of every strategy execution journey.
But besides knowing what strategy is all about, you also need to cultivate the right attitude. I’ve
come across many strategists in my career. Some were bad. Most were average. Only a few were
truly incredible. The things that great strategists do on a day-to-day basis may not show up on the
average radar. But for those who look carefully, they become visible.
Here’s a cool article with a list of what great strategists frequently do.
1.3. 8 strategy questions every CEO should ask
It’s one thing to know what strategy is all about, but it’s another to get out there and come up with
one.
As you will probably agree, there is no magic formula for crafting the perfect strategy. If there was,
the business world would look a lot different. But that does not mean there aren’t a few shortcuts
that you can take.

Here are 8 strategy questions to inspire your strategic thinking.

A specific article about questions related to shared value

1.4. Inspiring strategy quotes

When communicating about strategy, you might want to insert some quotes into your strategy
presentation. Here are some of my favorite strategy quotes:
“Strategy is a pattern in a stream of decisions”
—Henry Mintzberg
“The essence of strategy is choosing what not to do.”
—Michael Porter
“We don’t like their sound, and guitar music is on the way out”
—Decca Recording Co. rejecting the Beatles 1962
“Perception is strong and sight weak. In strategy it is important to see distant things as if they were
close and to take a distanced view of close things”
—Miyamoto Musashi, legendary Japanese swordsman
Want more? Here’s my ultimate strategy and strategy execution quotes list.
Want to give your strategy a boost?
Here’s what you need…
…a solid understanding of what it takes to build a strategy
… a solid understanding of strategic innovation
…industry knowledge and data (Including competitor analysis)
…a good insight into the existing strategy (What makes you (un)successful today?)
… who are my (internal) customers and what do they want/need
… at least 5 ideas to strengthen the existing strategy
… at least 5 ideas to come up with a new strategy (you don’t need to implement, but the reflection
process keeps you sharp – think Nokia)
…know what success looks like, so you can celebrate when you have arrived
… master the techniques of the 8 strategy execution Model, a practical strategy execution
framework (a strategy without execution capabilities is a paper dream)
… know how you will cascade strategy to each domain (business unit, department, team,…)
… a set of measures to track the execution
… a professional strategy story line (you won’t do it all by yourself; you need followers)
… the energy to get it done
2. Strategy Execution definition
There are quite a few different strategy execution definitions. When I define what strategy
execution, I like to start from a famous Mintzberg quote.
Professor Henry Mintzberg is an internationally renowned strategist. He has written more than 150
articles and 15 books on business and management. One of Mintzberg’s insights, “Strategy is a
pattern in a stream of decisions,” helps us to better understand how to define strategy execution.
A long time ago, I learned this phrase by heart—but it took me 5 years to really grasp the point of it.
The trick I use to understand Mintzberg’s cryptic statement is to approach decisions in 2 steps. First,
there’s the overall decision—the big choice—that guides all other decisions. To make a big choice,
we need to decide who we focus on—our target client segment—and we need to decide how we offer
unique value to the customers in our chosen segment. That’s basic strategy stuff. But by formulating
it this way, it helps us to better understand the second part, the day-to-day decisions—the small
choices—that get us closer to the finish line. When these small choices are in line with the big
choice, you get a Mintzberg Pattern.
So if strategy is a decision pattern, strategy execution is enabling people to create a
decision pattern.
In other words, strategy execution is helping people make small choices in line with a big choice.
That’s my strategy execution definition.
This notion requires a big shift in the way we think about execution.
As a strategist looking at strategy execution, we should imagine a decision tree rather than an action
plan. Decisions patterns are at the core of successful strategy journeys, not to -do lists. To improve
execution speed and ac- curacy, we should shift our energy from asking people to make action plans
to helping them make better decisions.
Let’s take a closer look at what strategy execution is all about:
1. Strategy Execution bridges the gap between a great strategy and great performance.
2. Strategy Execution is a vast area with blurred borders. It includes several processes –
from budgeting to evaluating individual objectives, and involves all functional domains.
3. Strategy Execution is a discipline of its own. Making strategy work isn’t the same as
strategy making. It’s a different game with its own rules, potential pitfalls and best practices
4. Strategy Execution involves everyone. From the CEO to the blue-collar worker, everyone
is involved in executing the strategy. Their roles might be different, but all individuals
contribute to the organisation’s execution effort.
5. Strategy Execution takes time. You can build a strategy in a few weeks (or months at the
most) but the execution can take several years. It’s a sprint versus a marathon.
6. Strategy Execution demands short- and long-term thinking. While executing, you need
to manage your long-term implementation plan and worry about the nitty-gritty actions you
will take tomorrow.
7. Strategy Execution demands a specific set of behaviors and techniques that
companies need to master in order to have competitive advantage. It’s a discipline of its own.
(Charan & Bossidy, Execution)
8. Great Strategy Execution requires a great strategy. It cannot exist without it. Great
execution can never compensate for a poor strategy.
 9. Strategy Execution isn’t something you worry about after you have already finished
crafting your strategy. You need to think about the implementation challenges at the same
time you design your strategy.
10. Strategy Execution has a strong timing sequence. You don’t do everything at the same
time. One thing happens before the other, and the order is important.
11. Strategy Execution requests a seamless integration between organisational and
individual performance. You can look at performance from either an organisational or an
individual perspective. But in order to realize your strategy, a connection between both is
crucial.
12. Strategy Execution is a big performance gap in most organisations. According to Harvard
Business Review, companies lose between 40-to-60 percent of their strategic potential during
the execution phase.
13. In many organisations, Strategy Execution is still a black box. You throw your strategy in
one end and performance comes out the other end.
14. Strategy Execution asks for measurement. Organisations need to start by understanding
in more detail where the Strategy Execution process leaks performance. A benchmark can
help tremendously.
15. It takes time to build Strategy Execution capabilities. Small organisations should count
on 18 months to become best-in-class. For a large multinational, it can take up to three years
to get there. Your measurement approach should take the long-term into account.
16. Strategy Execution has grown out of its infancy and is on its way to maturity. It’s like IT
10 years ago.
17. A simple Strategy Execution process like the 8 Model orients managers to take the right
actions at the right time.
18. Strategy Execution offers new chances for creating competitive advantage. Make sure
you are the first in line to fully exploit the opportunity.
19. Strategy Execution is part of a leaders’s role. In fact, it’s a crucial building block – a
leadership essential.
20. Unfortunately, and for many reasons, some managers – the strategy tourists – see strategy
execution as something others should do while they are working on something ‘more
important’.
21. Strategy Execution needs heroes, leaders who take on the implementation challenges and
get things done.
Execution synonym
1. When we talk about strategy implementation vs strategy execution, we talk about the same
thing. In other words, an execution synonym is ‘implementation’. You can change the word
‘execution’ everywhere in this guide by the word ‘implementation’ and you still have the same
meaning.
2. When we talk about strategy vs tactics there is a huge difference. Strategy is ‘the choice’, tactics
are the operational side of this choice. I consider tactics as part of strategy execution but do not
consider it an execution synonym as it mainly focuses on the planning side of doing things, like a
‘tactical’ meeting.
Here’s a short video about strategy execution:
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Strategy Execution Facts and Figures
More and more people are convinced about the importance of strategy execution. But there’s still a
small group that needs a nudge, a small push in the right direction. Here are 20 strategy execution
facts and figures that help you get this done.
1. Companies realize only 63% of the financial performance their strategies promise because of
defects and breakdowns in planning & execution. More than 1/3 placed the figure at less than 50%.
(Harvard Business Review)
2. 15 percent believe the strategy to be wrong for their company. (the performance factory)
3. Almost all – 94 percent – have indicators that relate not only to financials, but also to customers,
processes or people. (the performance factory)
4. Around 1 in 3 – 30 percent – receive no information on how to execute the strategy. (the
performance factory)
5. Only 61 percent is convinced that the strategic initiatives are staffed with the right people. (the
performance factory)
6. As little as 27 percent believe that the strategic initiatives are being managed correctly. (the
performance factory)
7. 27 percent doesn’t receive any individual feedback. (the performance factory)
8. As many as 17 percent lack leadership objectives. (the performance factory)
9. 17 percent indicate that performance isn’t monitored. (the performance factory)
10. Only 7% of employees today fully understand their company’s business strategies and what’s
expected of them in order to help achieve the company goals. (SuccessFactors)
11. 38 percent indicate that poor performers don’t face any consequences. (the performance factory)
12. More than one third – 37 percent – have never had the opportunity to participate in a 360° skills
assessment exercise. (the performance factory)
13. 18 percent is unable to explain how to set individual objectives. (the performance factory)
14. The implementation of a performance management system based on the Balanced Scorecard
leads to immediate, noticeable improvement of the financial results and a better understanding of the
operating model. Only 5% of the companies studied haven’t noticed any improvements. (Manager &
Literatuur)
15. 27 percent receives no training on essential management skills. (the performance factory)
16. 36 percent do not question appraisals objectively. (the performance factory)
17. Of all managers, 24 percent do not receive any useful strategy information from other
departments. (the performance factory)
18. Only about 20% of workers say their managers coach them regularly to help them improve their
performance. (HRI)
19. Companies rarely track performance against long-term plans: less than 15% of companies make
it a regular practice to go back and compare the business’s results with the performance forecast for
each unit in its prior years’ strategic plans. (Harvard Business Review)
20. For a typical business unit, top management and the board should monitor no more than 3 to 5
metrics, representing different areas of the business for each of the three time frames: short -term,
over the next 1-5 years, and long-term. (Mc Kinsey Quarterly)
And finally, think about this one next time you take a decision: best-selling author Paul C. Nutt did
extensive research on decision making for his book Why Decisions Fail. He found that more than 50
percent of all decisions fail. They are either quickly abandoned, partially implemented or never
adopted at all. 81 percent of all managers pushed their decisions through persuasion and edict. And
only 7 percent were based on long-term priorities. Despite these shocking figures, 91 percent of the
managers in Nutt’s study rated themselves as exceptional decision-makers.
This strategy execution ebook will get you started. It covers six crucial strategy execution challenges
and offers practical tips on how to overcome them.
3. Strategy Execution framework: the 8
3.1. The 8, a simple Strategy Execution model
Strategy Execution or performance management is a complex process. In fact, it’s a mix of several
processes – and the ideal process picture is different for each organization.
But even with a different mix, each best-in-class strategy execution process should include some
basic building blocks. Luckily, many of them are readily available within most organizations.
They include:
 Tried and tested approaches for reviewing a strategy.
 Strategy cascade tools, the Balanced Scorecard being the best-known.
 Techniques to structure, execute and monitor strategic projects.
 A proven approach to set, monitor and evaluate individual objectives.
What is lacking however, is a simple framework to integrate and align all of these different building
blocks. And that’s where the 8 Model comes in. It combines the most important strategy execution
steps into a coherent process.

The 8 Model doesn’t cover all of the ins and outs of the Strategy Execution process. It’s not
supposed to. It’s not a rigid step-by-step instruction. But it does provide a necessary, simple strategy
execution framework.
You can make your strategy execution framework more complex if you prefer. For the
organizational cycle in particular, there are some sophisticated models around. Kaplan and Norton
describe one in their latest book The Execution Premium. You can find a second one that also
includes organizational structure impacts in Making Strategy Work by Hrebiniak.
While I like the insights that this strategy execution framework from Kaplan & Norton or Hrebiniak
provides, their complexity makes them unsuitable as a day-to-day Strategy Execution framework for
the whole organization. I believe a Strategy Execution framework for all managers and staff needs to
be simple, highly recognizable and sexy. (Think like a marketer and make it stick).
I’m aware that you will lose some of the nuances, but that’s a choice you need to make. Besides, it
doesn’t mean you have to over-simplify your Strategy Execution framework. You can use the 8 for
communication purposes and keep a more detailed version to be known only by those who have to
organize the process.
Not convinced yet?
Here are two ‘content’ arguments:
1. The 8 shows the importance of aligning individual and organizational performance, one of the
most important things you can do to improve your success rate.
2. The 8 gives initiative management the attention it deserves (read ‘needs’). International
research fromthe performance factory shows that initiative management is the single most
important execution problem that companies face. In other words, it’s the place where most
performance is lost.
So, if you look for a simple, highly recognizable Strategy Execution framework that emphasizes the
link between individual and organizational performance and gives initiative management the
importance it deserves, go for a simple strategy execution model, the 8.

3.2. The strategy execution model building blocks

Here’s an overview of the strategy execution model:
1. Update Strategy
Your strategy is your long-term, big choice. Each strategy is unique, and it should also be
measurable and easy to understand. Depending on the industry you are in, it maps the road your
company should take for the next 3 to 10 years. On a regular basis − most companies should do this
annually – a company needs (and wants) to update its strategy based on changes in its competitive
environment and on the strategy execution feedback from the previous cycle. We include strategy
updates in our execution framework as they take place on a regular, recurring basis at all levels of
the organisation. The real strategy work, conducted only once every 3 to 5 years at the top of an
organisation, is excluded.
2. Communicate
As soon as your strategy (or strategy update) is finalized and approved by all stakeholders, you
should focus on strategy communication. Transparent and easy-to-understand communication creates
the necessary understanding and engagement for the new/adapted strategy. It is essential to use all
available communication platforms. One big strategy event and a single strategy e -mail are not
nearly enough. Use other meeting platforms, discussion groups, informal and formal encounters,
performance management sessions, intranets, websites, screen savers, coffee corners, billboards, etc.
to communicate the strategy.
Pay attention to the quality of your strategy communication. Senior managers, in particular − as
strategy ambassadors − should be especially careful about how they communicate. In addition to the
content itself, tone of voice and presentation skills are essential elements in transferring cont ent and
creating the necessary enthusiasm for others to pass on the message. Make sure you don’t kill your
strategy by lousy, uninspiring communication.
3. Cascade
When you cascade your company’s strategy, you break down objectives into smaller chunks for the
next organisational level. The process stops at the smallest unit level − these are often teams. In the
end, the size of your organisation will define the size of the cascade. It is crucial to achieve macro
alignment between all the objectives – horizontally and vertically – in your organisation. We call
this MECE. Take a look at the first Strategy Execution law in our free library for more information.
On a micro level, you need to balance your objectives across perspectives. The 4 traditional
perspectives are: financial, customer, internal processes, and people. You can add other dimensions,
as appropriate. In addition to the balancing act on the macro and micro levels, you need to select the
right indicators – often called Key Performance Indicators or KPI’s − to track the objectives and
define appropriate targets.
4. Compare & Learn
Your strategy is a hypothesis. It’s your best estimate of the route to success … but it’s still an
estimation.
It’s crucial to take some time at the end of a cycle to go back and check your hypothesis, to compare
your initial strategic assumptions with what you have learned from the reality of the Strategy
Execution cycle that is being completed. By doing this, you will put yourself in the forefront −
research shows that only 15% of companies take this step.
But at the same time, make sure you don’t just look back at your strategy: take a look at your
Strategy Execution capability as well. All too often, we see companies jumping automatically to
change their strategy, because they did not reach their projected performance. But, upon
examination, there is nothing wrong with their strategy. The problem is in executing it. So, make
sure you evaluate your execution capabilities as well!
This ‘compare & learn’ step will help you verify your hypothesis, update your strategy, and fine-
tune your execution capabilities accordingly.
5. Manage initiatives
Initiative management is the activity in which your dreams run up against reality, your strategy
meets operations, and resources are added to the strategy formula. This is one of the most difficult
steps in Strategy Execution − and so it’s also where execution quite often goes wrong.
Initiative management is about selecting, prioritizing and executing the right initiatives: those
actions that will lead to the realization of your objectives. Initiative management can be broken
down into 3 main activities. See the answer to question 7 for more details.
6. Set Objectives
Setting individual objectives is one of the best things you can do to improve performance − your
own performance, and (if you have them) your team members’ performance. The positive impact of
goal-setting is one of the most widely researched and scientifically validated aspects of today’s
organisational science. Two key researchers of goal-setting and task motivation theory are: Edwin A.
Locke (University of Maryland) and Gary P. Latham (University of Toronto).
Make sure you link all individual objectives with the strategy at the organisational level. If you
don’t, you might have a great objective … but it’s of no use to the organisation!
Also, make sure you focus on the way you secure agreement on the objectives. It’s the quality of the
objectives – including the link with the overall company objectives – AND the acceptance of the
objectives that will make your individual objective-setting a success.
Want to know more about goal setting? Check out this mini guide about personal goals.
7. Monitor & Coach
Regular coaching motivates people and increases their chances of success dramatically. It also
simplifies the final performance evaluation. In fact, regular coaching is far more important than the
formal review meeting somewhere around the middle of the year.
Providing feedback in the right way − which is a key coaching skill − is a crucial step in boosting
performance!
Performance coaching is a relatively new, but rapidly growing, knowledge field. The leading
authority is Sir John Whitmore.
8. Evaluate Performance
Most organisations conduct a formal performance evaluation at the end of the individual
performance management cycle. Ideally, the evaluation should answer the question: have the
individual performance objectives been achieved?
Be sure you make an honest assessment. There are several techniques that can help you. One of the
best known is the STAR technique. Although many organisations link performance to remuneration,
performance evaluation is − and should be − a separate process.
Here’s a short video about this strategy execution framework
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Here a detailed guide with 27 practical tips to boost your strategy implementation process.
Now, more than ever, we need a different way of thinking, a useful way to focus and turn our
strategy into success.
I hope this ebook It’s All About Strategy Execution will get you started on that path. In the book, six
senior executives from different fields and industries share their vision of Strategy Execution. You
will find tried and tested insights from:
 Michael Smith, VP Group Strategy and Planning North America, Coca-Cola
 Shane Dempsey, VP HR and Communications Europe, Novo Nordisk
 Douglas Johnson-Poensgen, VP Business Development, BT
 Alan Maxwell, VP Human Resources,Lockheed Martin
 Jean-Francois Van Kerckhove, VP Corporate Strategy, eBay
 Hervé Borensztejn, SVP Human Resources, EADS. SHARE THIS VIDEO

4.
Strategy Communication
Reach for the head, heart and hands
The communication of strategy and its execution comes in different shapes and forms: from
individual conversations during objective setting over group interactions around the Balanced
Scorecard, and from intranet postings to writing a memo regarding a strategy shift. But they all serve
one purpose: to get the strategy into the heads, hearts and hands of the people.
Heads, hearts and hands
 Heads: You want everyone to understand the strategy.
 Hearts: You want everyone to be motivated by the strategy.
 Hands: You want everyone to take action to get things done.
Strategy communication is crucial to strategy execution success. Communication of the strategy and
its execution is an essential, ongoing component of your implementation efforts. And although some
elements might seem trivial and simplistic on the surface as everyone can communica te to some
degree, the reality shows that it demands substantial skill and knowledge to communicate the
relevant information to the desired person that results in the required action.
So the question isn’t so much if you communicated but how well.
In other words, don’t focus on the question ‘Was my message communicated?’ but rather on ‘Was
my message effective?’.
Look beyond the send button and shift your focus to the receiving end.
I will talk about the company strategy…
…because I feel smart showing others what I know.
…because I care about the outcome and want the company to succeed.
…because I have no choice. Everybody else is talking about it.
…because there’s a financial benefit directly to me – my bonus is linked to the realization of the
strategy.
…because I get bombarded with information.
…because I believe we have a cool strategy.
…because I don’t agree and want to share alternative options.
…because my employees ask me to.
…because it’s expected of me – I’m the boss.
…because I want to link our team objectives to the overall strategy.
…because I’m convinced everyone needs to know – strategy communication is key.
…because I’m a strategy tourist and I like talking about strategic stuff – it makes me feel important.
But talking should not be overrated…
It’s what we do that matters.
But if we are honest, we all talk too much and do too little.
… we say that the new company strategy is the best we had in years but, deep down, we don’t really
understand it.
… we say a good leader needs to act transparent, but that last little project hick-up is best covered
up. It might cost us our next promotion. And, it’s very likely that nobody will notice anyway.
… we say people development is crucial, but we don’t need it ourselves and the people in our team
are too busy running the business.
… we say that simplicity is crucial, but have just implemented two new software tools.
… we say communication is key, but always postpone it until the next phase is ready.
… we say strategy execution is important, but we don’t teach our people how to do it.
… we say we love innovation and dwell about the success of Apple, but we have not produced a
single new idea in the last 12 months and shot at least 20 from our peers.
The problem isn’t in what we say. It’s what we do.
A great strategy story needs:
… a compelling business case that creates enthusiasm and inspires people.
… a simple story line so it’s easy for employees to pick it up and repeat the story vividly at the
kitchen table.
… consistency. Stick to the message and make sure others do too.
… to be easy to relate to. People need to see how they fit in.
… great communication skills to get the strategy into the heads, hands and harts of the employees.
… a heavy investment in awareness creation.
… role models.
5. Strategy Execution Cascade
Once you have defined your strategy, it’s time to cascade it across the organization. The Balanced
Scorecard is the best-known technique to do so. Below you will find some Balanced Scorecard facts
and figures and some tips for the advanced practitioners.
5.1. Facts and figures about the Balanced Scorecard
Who invented the Balanced Scorecard?
Contrary to popular belief, the first Balanced Scorecard was not created by Dr Robert S. Kaplan and
Dr David P. Norton, but by Art Schneiderman – a fact that I was unaware of until a few years ago.
At the time of its conception, Schneiderman worked as an independent consultant for Analog
Devices, a mid-sized semi-conductor company.
Here’s the story. In 1990, Schneiderman took part in a research study by Robert Kaplan of the
Harvard Business School and US management consultancy Nolan-Norton. Subsequently, Kaplan and
Norton included anonymous details of this use of the Balanced Scorecard in their 1992 article on the
Balanced Scorecard. Their article Measures That Drive Performance published in the Harvard
Business Review (1992) wasn’t the only paper published on the topic that year, but it was a great
success and received much attention. In 1996, they published the bestselling The Balanced
Scorecard, Translating Strategy into Action. The initial high-profile articles and this highly
successful book have made the BSC well-known, but perhaps also wrongly led to Kaplan and Norton
being seen as the creators of the Balanced Scorecard concept.
So if you are a Scorecard fan, give credit to Robert Kaplan and David Norton, the founding fathers
of modern Strategy Execution thinking, for making it common knowledge. But thank Art
Schneiderman for conceptualizing the Balanced Scorecard itself.
Foundations of the Balanced Scorecard
While the term and the concept of the Balanced Scorecard was invented by Art Schneiderman and
made famous by Kaplan and Norton, the roots of performance management as an activity go further
back in time. Management historian Alfred Chandler points out that early performance management
practices go right back to the early 19th century and the emergence of complex organisations.
One of the most popular management instruments in the world
Did you know that the Balanced Scorecard is the sixth most used management instrument in
organisations today? It’s an essential management system and a cornerstone of successful Strategy
Execution
Today, the Balanced Scorecard is considered an indispensable instrument for clarifying,
communicating and managing strategy across organisations. According to research by Bain in 2010,
the Balanced Scorecard is the sixth most used management instrument in today’s organisations, with
around 50 percent of all 11,000 survey participants making use of it. The world of academia has also
jumped on the concept. By the end of 2011, Amazon listed nearly 4,000 English-language books
related to the Balanced Scorecard. Meanwhile, many people have something to say about the BSC
with Google hits close to seven million.
What does a Balanced Scorecard actually do?
The Scorecard provides a framework for translating an abstract strategy into specific, concrete
objectives, measures, indicators and actions. It combines a ‘balanced’ (cause/effect) view with a
‘scoring’ (measuring/tracking) view. It focuses on aligning the goals of business units, team s and
individual employees with the company’s overall business strategy. A great Balanced Scorecard
breaks a business strategy down into specific and measurable chunks. It also keeps the long -term
strategic goals visible on the radar.
The ultimate goal of a Balanced Scorecard is to experience Strategy Execution as a continuous
process. Today, the Balanced Scorecard provides much more than multi-view measurement; in many
organisations, it’s an essential management system and a cornerstone of successful Strat egy
Execution.By helping organisations detect problem areas and ensuring that managers and employees
focus their energies in the right areas, the Balanced Scorecard also becomes an important foundation
for operational management.
The Balanced Scorecard should not be viewed as a controlling instrument. Its ultimate goal is to
create focus for what’s really important for the future, ensuring that all employees contribute to the
realization of the company’s mission and strategic goals. Measurement is a means t o reaching a goal
and not a goal in itself.
The Scorecard is also about learning and teaching; about your strategy, the assumptions you have
made regarding winning in the marketplace and the value proposition you have put forward. It can
be a crucial lever to communicating your strategy.
How to automate my Balanced Scorecard? With care!
If you look into the Balanced Scorecard, at some point you will face the automation challenge.
According to 2GC research, more than 100 Balanced Scorecard reporting applicat ions (supporting
the automation of data collection, reporting and analysis) were available in February 2011. A
previous survey revealed that, of all the companies that used BSC software, roughly one -third used
office software to report their Balanced Scorecard, one-third used bespoke software developed
specifically for their own use and one-third used one of the many commercial packages available.
5.2. The Balanced Scorecard: upstream and downstream movement
I’m an early Scorecard adopter having used it since 1996. I’ve learnt the hard way what works and
what doesn’t. One of the most important things on my experience list is that you need to decide how
you use the Balanced Scorecard in your organisation. Or put differently, a Scorecard can offer you
and your company a variety of benefits depending on how it is introduced and used.
The crucial question is therefor not if you use the Scorecard but how you use it. For maximum
return, you need to look below the surface, understand your options and make a definite choice about
‘how our company should use the Scorecard for maximum benefit’. It’s like buying a smart phone
and using it only for phone calls. You’ll miss out on all the other great benefits that such a phone can
offer.
To better understand this crucial point, let’s take a short journey back in time. The first article in the
Harvard Business Review in 1992 about the Scorecard was called Balanced Scorecard – Measures
That Drive Performance. As you can see from the title, the concept of the Scorecard was ini tially
designed to help companies measure performance differently − by focusing on more than financial
indicators alone. (Research in the early ‘90s showed that 90 percent of all indicators were financial).
But what most people don’t know is that soon after the publication of this first article in 1992, the
basic ideas rapidly evolved and two movements were initiated. I call these the ‘Upstream’ and the
‘Downstream’ Balanced Scorecard movements.
Let’s look at the Upstream movement first. When the early adopters started using the Scorecard for
measuring, they quickly learnt that it had other more important benefits.
They realized that the Scorecard also provides an interesting framework to cascade strategy. Four
years after the publication of their first article, Kaplan and Norton included some of these findings in
their book The Balanced Scorecard: Translating Strategy into Action (1996) and continued to
explore the cascading idea further in their later books, particularly The Strategy-focused
Organisation – How Balanced Scorecard Companies Thrive in the New Business Environment
(2000) and Strategy Maps: Converting Intangible Assets into Tangible Outcomes (2004).
Others followed this same path and positioned the BSC as an ideal approach for cascading an overal l
strategy. It was positioned as the next logical thing for a company to do once it had finished a
strategy revamp or update. The Upstream Balanced Scorecard movement was born.
The Downstream movement was initiated by the software industry that eyed automation
opportunities. The software vendors smelt money and started promoting KPI automation at every
opportunity. Their story line focused on the scoring element and positioned the Scorecard as a
tracking tool – a dashboard for every manager to track his/her own performance with, if possible, an
automated data upload. The Balanced Scorecard was positioned as the instrument to measure and
visualize this measurement. Positioned as an instrument without any link with strategy, the
Downstream Balanced Scorecard movement saw the light of day.
Both schools – Upstream and Downstream – had their share of followers, but the Downstream
movement had a stronger voice fueled by underlying financial interest. So, unfortunately, in many
organisations, for around a decade, Scorecard projects were mainly about building fancy, automated
dashboards.Thankfully, a lot has changed and several Balanced Scorecard automation companies
have adopted a different approach and embraced the Upstream potential of a Balanced Scorecard.
They now know that a Scorecard approach that’s not embedded in their client’s strategy cascading
process will not survive.
5.3. The 4 benefits of a Balanced Scorecard
The next two sections are a summary from the Balanced Scorecard guide.

1. The Balanced Scorecard cascades your strategy

2. The Balanced Scorecard measures your strategy progress
3. The Balanced Scorecard communicates your strategy
4. The Balanced Scorecard boosts your strategic thinking skills
5.4. 14 tips to get the most out of your Balanced Scorecard
Check out the ultimate guide about the Balanced Scorecard and some KPI guidelines.
6. Individual Goal Setting
Goal setting is one of the keys to Strategy Execution success.
It’s the final step in your strategy cascade. And it fuels the motivation of the individuals who adopt
small pieces of your corporate strategy and transform them into desired performance.
Successfully achieved, individual objective setting is a Strategy Execution booster.
Let’s take a closer look at at the essence of goal-setting and see how it can help you to achieve
superior performance.
12 insights from 100 goal-setting studies with 40,000 individuals
Did you know that the goal-setting theory is one of the most scientifically valid and useful theories
in organisational science?
The positive results of setting objectives within the world of work are widely supported by
substantial research – more than 100 scientific studies involving 40,000 participants from different
industries. And these figures don’t even include any goal-setting research that took place in the
world of sport.
The research revealed some fascinating results:
1. Working with goals generally increases performance versus not working with goals.
2. Goals directly affect performance by steering what people pay attention to and how long and
hard they work:
 Goals direct our attention and effort towards goal-relevant activities and away from
goal-irrelevant activities.
 Goals have an energizing function and make us work harder.
 Goals make us more persistent. This results in us working more thoroughly.
3. Goals indirectly affect performance by motivating people to discover and utilize task
strategies which will facilitate goal achievement:
4. People will automatically draw on a repertoire of skills they have previously used in a related
context and apply them to crack the current challenge.
5. People will engage in deliberate planning to develop strategies that will enable them to attain
their goals.
6. Difficult goals, when accepted, result in a higher level of performance than those of easy
goals.
7. Specific goals work better than non-specific goals. That is, people perform better with clear
stated goals rather than other types such as ‘do your best’ or ‘work hard’.
8. If people face a task they find very complex, use learning goals instead of performance goals
to improve overall performance. Why? Because performance goals can make people so
anxious that they fail to systematically look for solution strategies and learn what is effective.
9. The stronger the goal commitment, the higher the likelihood of success. Goal commitment
increases when the goal is considered important and achievable.
10. People with a high self-efficacy – a task-specific self-confidence – are more committed to
assigned goals, find and use better task strategies to attain them, and respond more positively
to negative feedback than do people with low self-efficacy.
 11. Self-confidence can be improved by providing adequate training, by role modelling and by
using persuasive communication.
12. Regular feedback on their goal progression improves people’s performance.
13. Incentives shouldn’t discourage risk taking, such as striving for near impossible goals.
14. Goal setting doesn’t work when the reward mechanism is inappropriate.
Six secret success factors for best-in-class goal setting
Setting challenging and motivational goals is one of the best ways of improving perform ance –
yours, your team’s or even that of the entire organisation. Let the goal-setting theory be your starting
point. And once you’ve covered the basics, you can take your goal setting to the next level by
applying the following six success factors:
Goal setting rule #1: Don’t break the strategy chain
Setting individual objectives isn’t an isolated exercise. In fact, it’s the final step in a series of events,
all aimed at dividing the strategy into smaller parts. The sum of your individual objectives is yo ur
strategic action plan at the minutest level of detail.
In order to make it all add up, the relationship with the next level up is crucial. Without it, the
organisational value is completely lost and could result in great sounding objectives which don’t
support your company strategy.
Here are some practical tips:
 Make sure you understand the overall strategy. If you don’t, you won’t be able to explain it.
If things are not clear, it’s your responsibility to take action. Don’t blame your boss or
someone else for not understanding the strategy.
 Make sure you have a good understanding of the objectives defined on the organisational
level above you. These will serve as your framework.
 Spend time communicating the strategy to your team. It will help them to understand the
relationship of their objectives to the overall strategy and the importance of their
contribution. It will also increase their commitment towards their own goals.
 Visualize the link between lower- and higher-level objectives. Use a simple spreadsheet to
connect the individual objectives with the higher-level goals.
 Take ongoing responsibility to align objectives across hierarchical levels. Take ownership to
connect lower-level goals with yours and make certain yours fit with the next level up. Don’t
expect others to do it for you.
Goal setting rule #2: Make sure it all adds up
Imagine you are the manager of an IT department comprised of 30 people, of whom eight are project
managers, 19 project members and three support staff. You discover, via an internal audit, that only
73 percent of your projects deliver results on time and within budget. The main reason: poor project
management.
You ask HR to find a good project management skills course and, being a good performance
management scholar, give all eight project managers the following SMART objective: to take a two-
day project management course in the following three months.
How great are your chances of attaining a better score on your next project delivery audit?
Pretty low, wouldn’t you say? And that’s not because the objective itself is wrong but because other
objectives are missing to complement this one. In other words, the lower-level objective of sending
your eight project managers on a two-day course, won’t be enough to achieve your overall goal of
improving the project delivery on time and on budget.
Always ask yourself the following question: ‘Would I bet my own money on this combination of
goals to reach the one above?’. If the answer is no, you still have some work to do.
Here are two actions you might want to consider:
1. What other goals can you add to increase the likelihood of success? Make a list. Rank all
actions, starting with the one you think has the most impact on the realization of your overall
goal.
2. Try to reformulate the existing objectives.
So to sum up, evaluate not only if an individual objective contributes to the overall goal, but also
question if the contribution is large enough. If not, take action.
Goal setting rule #3: Don’t be too SMART
What does the ‘T’ stand for in SMART? Is it ‘Time-based’ or was it…?
When I talk to managers, I often feel that goal setting has been downgraded to a ‘using the SMART
technique’ drill. The essence has been lost. The acronym is well-known but few understand the real
dynamics of goal setting and the added value for the successful implementation of a strategy.
Most managers are clueless and thousands of company money is spent on training to reinforce this
ignorance. So does this mean that the SMART model is ineffective in today’s working world? Not at
all. It still has its advantages – it’s recognized by most managers and is a great aide memoire for goal
setting. Just be careful it doesn’t become a goal in itself.
Goal setting rule #4: Don’t assume too quickly that someone is motivated
As you know, commitment is crucial to the success of individual objective setting. No commitment
means no performance, whatever else you try. So while most managers focus only on the objectives,
you want to focus on the objectives and the other person in the room, obtaining that crucial
commitment.
But be careful. Peter Senge, author of the best-seller The Fifth Discipline, believes that “Ninety
percent of the time, what passes for commitment is compliance”. In other words, you might think
you have that very important goal commitment in the bag, but in reality, you don’t. You only have
something that resembled the real thing.
Goal setting rule #5: Focus on getting the leadership objectives right
Most people find it difficult to define high-quality leadership objectives. In fact, almost all managers
I know find it much easier to define ‘hard’ business objectives than ‘soft’ ones. But instead of
putting in the extra effort required to get them right, they take the easy way out and end up with
leadership objectives such as ‘go to leadership training’, ‘organise more communication sessions’ or
‘work on your management skills’.
So what’s the magic trick to define those leadership objectives?
Here are just a few that will help you get the job done:
1. Think and talk behavior. Describe and discuss suitable behavior – and equally or even more
importantly, what doesn’t fit.
2. Compare behavior. Do you know somebody who has the right leadership behavior? Use them
as an example in your discussion.
 3. Keep it simple. Competency dictionaries and leadership models often provided are way too
detailed and won’t serve your purpose.
4. Don’t try too hard! Don’t overdo the measuring part. People with SMART training under
their belts have been taught to make every objective measurable. But participants need a
discussion and feedback, not a mathematical formula.
Two final comments:
Most people are interested in self-development and time and effort invested in helping them define
high-quality leadership objectives increases motivation. Discussing leadership objectives will take
the working relationship to another level and often opens the door for performance coaching.
Goal setting rule #6: Don’t let a template ruin an important exercise
Ideally you shouldn’t need to worry about templates. But since the world isn’t ideal, you might be
faced with a highly complex and user-unfriendly objective-setting document.
But don’t let a poor-quality document affect your professionalism. Don’t allow your meeting to
disintegrate into a ‘we have to fill in this template for corporate reasons’ exercise. This won’t do
justice to either you or your colleagues.
Keep the quality standards as high as possible. Start with a blank sheet of paper if it helps. Yo u can
always transfer the results of your meeting onto the template later.
And don’t forget to tell those in charge that the document isn’t fit for the job. If they are smart, they
will get to work.
Here’s also detailed guide about an easy-to-use goal setting template.
7.Performance Coaching
Strategy Execution is made up of many, MANY individual execution efforts – an infinite list of
small decisions taken up by different people at different times. Performance coaching helps this
decision process by creating the necessary commitment with the individuals involved to move these
actions forwards. In other words, coaching creates engagement to get things done.
This chapter provides a clear overview of the key elements of coaching and gives proven tips to
upgrade your coaching skills.
6 things every leader should know about coaching
1. Coaching is a new, fast growing leadership field
Although Socrates launched some of the basic principles of modern coaching some 2000
years ago, it has only become well-known over the last two decades.
In these last 20 years, coaching has had a meteoric rise in popularity. For example, 80 percent
of UK organisations are investing in one or more forms of coaching and the International
Coaching Federation is attracting record numbers each month.
2. There’s no agreed upon coaching definition
To this day, there is no single agreed upon definition for coaching. Some are straightforward,
others are fancy. My favorite coaching definition is by Tim Gallwey, author of several best-
selling books on coaching in sport. It goes like this: “Coaching is unlocking a person’s
potential to maximize their own performance. It’s helping them to learn rather than teaching
them”.
3. Coaching is all about awareness & responsibility
The essence of good coaching is all about you, as a coach, helping your coachee to increase
awareness and take responsibility. Of course, the process is important since it brings structure
to the conversation, but it should not be the cornerstone of your coaching. Creating awareness
and responsibility are. Frame your coaching in the context of awareness and responsibility
and it will improve drastically.
4. Coaching should be a leadership style, not a tool
Performance coaching is not so much about passing on individual performance objectives, but
rather a technique to take away the barriers that prevent individuals from actually taking on
and delivering against these objectives.
Coaching is also a way of managing rather than a tool to use in a variety of situations such as
planning, delegation or problem solving. It’s a different way of viewing people – a far more
optimistic way than most of us are accustomed to – and results in a different way of treating
them. Coaching is all about unlocking future potential performance rather than evaluating and
judging current performance. It’s based on the belief that individuals want to and can do a
good job. If, deep down, you don’t believe this, coaching is probably not for you.
5. Be careful not to mix performance coaching with counselling.
Coaching is work-related, proactive and focused on conscious or just below the surface
things. Counselling is a whole different ball game. It’s non-work-related, rather reactive and
concerned with the core beliefs of an individual. You can do more harm than good by mixing
them up. In his article The Very Real Dangers of Executive Coaching (Harvard Business
Review), Steve Berglas pinpoints the risks – and unfortunately – the practice of unschooled
coaches who enter into more psychotherapy issues with their coachee than they can
competently handle.
 6. GROW is the most popular coaching method
There are many coaching methods. The good ones will help you as a coach to facilitate
learning rather than to direct it. GROW – originally conceived by Graham Alexander and
further perfected by Sir John Whitmore – is probably the best-known and appreciated
coaching technique in the world today. Unlike other techniques, it is much more than a
toolbox linked to an acronym. It helps you to structure your interaction with your coachee.
And I believe that’s exactly the reason for its success. In the end, everybody can become a
coach. It’s a skill that requires only time and effort to develop.
The GROW coaching model
There are dozens of coaching methods out there, some better than others. The good ones will help
you as a coach to facilitate learning rather than to direct it.
GROW – originally conceived by Graham Alexander and further perfected by John – is probably the
best-known and appreciated coaching technique in the world.
 G for Goal setting: define the short- and long-term goals
 R for Reality: explore the current situation
 O for Options: identify and evaluate different action strategies
 W for Will: what will you do by when?
Unlike other techniques, it is much more than a toolbox linked to an acronym. It’s an approach, a
philosophy which helps you create the right context to help individuals transform their potential into
peak performance. And I believe that’s exactly the reason for its success.
I have written two long guides about coaching (1) the GROW Coaching Model, covering the
definition, tips and 56 example questions you can use to boost your coaching efforts and
(2) Performance Coaching, including 30 tips from Sir John Whitmore.
8. Strategy Execution Quotes

Here are my favorite strategy execution quotes to spice up your next presentation:
“However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results”
– Sir Winston Churchill
“Execution is a specific set of behaviors and techniques that companies need to master in order to
have competitive advantage. It’s a discipline of its own”
—Ram Charan and Larry Bossidy, Execution
“Strategy Execution is the responsibility that makes or breaks executives”
—Alan Branche and Sam Bodley-Scott, Implementation
“Persistence is what makes the impossible possible, the possible likely, and the likely definite”
—Robert Half
“There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all”
—Peter Drucker
“Building a visionary company requires one percent vision and 99 percent alignment”
—Jim Collins and Jerry Porras, Built to Last
“The best time to make up your mind about people is never”
—Katharine Hepburn in The Philadelphia Story
“Any intelligent fool can make things bigger and more complex. It takes a touch of genius – and a
lot of courage – to move in the opposite direction”
—Albert Einstein
“The ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak”
—Hans Hoffmann, Introduction to the Bootstrap
“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication”
—Leonardo Da Vinci
“You can have anything you want – you just can’t have everything you want”
—Anonymous
“Plans are only good intentions unless they immediately degenerate into hard work”
—Peter Drucker
“Initiative prioritization doesn’t mean distributing all available resources to al l known projects”
—Volker Voigt
“An organization’s ability to learn, and translate that learning into action rapidly, is the ultimate
competitive advantage”
—Jack Welch
 Related links
 Want more? Here’s my ultimate strategy and strategy execution quotes list.

Strategy and strategy execution trends

Here are some trends to watch:
Shared Value: a new approach to capitalism

Reducing the effects of CO2, fighting poverty and cradle-to-cradle: topics that you will find on quite
a few corporate agendas today.
Sustainability is a trend that was identified some years ago and is seeing continuous growth.
But the notion of Shared Value is quite new, a strategy approach where a company looks at
strengthening its strategic position and advances society at the same time. It was introduced by
Porter and Cremer and is a concept that’s gaining more and more followers. The concept of Shared
Value builds on the notion of Corporate Social Responsibility, but moves away from the traditional
trade-off thinking that if you do good for society, you hurt business and vice versa.
Sustainability is more than the latest hype and will become an increasingly important topic. We
predict that the notion of Shared Value will also become more important as sustainability becomes a
strategic differentiator and those companies that find ways to create shared value will have a better
competitive position.
But this does not mean that you have to jump on the bandwagon without pausing for thought. Each
company is unique with its own specific value chain, choice of strategy and geographical presence.
Not every country looks at sustainability in the same way or has the same growth challenges, but
these should not be excuses to exclude the topic from your reflection process of your company’s
strategy, a scenario where the company focuses on creating shared value.
The key question to ask yourself is ‘How you want to define the relationship between your compan y
and the society it operates in?’. We see three generations of CSR: you can be a Donator, an Avoider
or a Creator. Where is your company at and where do you want to be?
The first CSR generation is made up of Donators. They are good citizens who believe in the
traditional trade-off between organisations and society, but want to give something back to society,
to compensate. The good cause is often randomly selected and driven by the personal preferences of
a few individuals, most often the owner or CEO. There is no ambition to strengthen the strategic
positioning, but many use it to look good to the outside world and as an advertising campaign on
their annual report or website.
In fact, I believe that quite a few Donators engage in CSR to create goodwill and keep off the
activists’ radar. Let me explain. The world around us is changing. The general public has taken a
new position – sustainability has become the new norm, at least from a lip service perspective.
Saying you are against sustainability is simply not done in today’s world. In Europe you’d be
signing your death warrant. In this new world, activists are also more aggressive and look for ‘bad’
examples that they can use and abuse in their campaigns. So what do Donators do?
They try to create (read: buy) goodwill through CSR. They commit an amount of money to show the
world that they are sustainable; they give their annual report a nice green gloss, put some trees or
windmills on the front page and show nice pictures of smiling people with their executi ve in some
far-off country. And the costs are written off as an expense. CSR is a smart move, like point -of-sale
material or a marketing campaign that wins the hearts of consumers.
The second CSR generation is made up of the Avoiders. Their main objective is to reduce any
negative impact of their own activities. Avoiders are aware that certain activities from their value
chain have a negative impact on society and try to reduce that impact. A good example is those
organisations that are trying to reduce their energy use.
The third CSR generation are the Creators. This group embraces the Shared Value concept and
view sustainability as a positive sum game. They see Corporate Social Responsibility as an
investment, not an expense. They are also much more selective about the activities they target. They
believe that no business can solve all of society’s problems so a worthy cause is not good enough.
They focus on those social issues that affect the drivers of a company’s competitiveness in the
locations in which it operates.
From time management to energy management
When time management became popular, it seemed to be a solution to all business problems.
Everyone took time management courses and started looking for efficiency gains everywhere.
Companies promoted it and started carefully monitoring the use of time.
But since time management became popular, the world has dramatically changed, our business
interactions speeding up tremendously. Thirty years ago, a typical business interaction went
something like this. Your company wants to do business with another company. After a nice lunch to
talk about opportunities, you send a letter to the contact person to formalise ideas. A few days later,
the recipient plans an internal meeting to discuss the matter, the results are dictated to a secretary
who sends a letter back.
You plan a meeting in two weeks to discuss it further…” Today, you might talk to your boss after
lunch, then write an email that evening to your contact person. You receive a response by midnight
saying she will discuss your feedback with her boss. At lunchtime the next day you get a formal
email confirming the agreement.
It is a mistake to think that the increased speed of business is only technology driven. Yes, it’s true
that new means of communication enable us to communicate faster, but the real change is in the
mindset. We expect things to move forwards at the same speed as technology. If we don’t get a
response to our email within the next 12 hours, we believe something is wrong.
And as today’s technology is so advanced, we – the managers – have become the bottleneck. We
have reached the time management optimum as there are only 24 hours in a day and only so many
emails we can write and respond to in an evening.
What’s the result?
We try to become even better at time management and start to cut corners. A typical example is
collective smart phone sessions. It is still called a meeting, but in reality it’s just a bunch of
individuals sitting around the same table cleaning out there inbox while someb ody in front makes
some background noise. But if we are honest, that’s not the solution either.
The biggest problem is that people don’t cope with work anymore, the speed and the feeling that
work is never-ending is stressful. There have never been so many people suffering from burnout in
the Western world. In fact, a number of organisations that we talked to list avoiding burnout in the
top three of their HR priority list.
So what’s the solution?
We have to evolve our thinking from time management to energy management. The limits of
productivity are not defined by time or hours of work, but by the energy levels we have.
We believe it’s crucial to have such a debate in every organisation and look for paths to better
energy management. There is an organisational angle where the cultural elements have a big impact,
for example, do you have a culture of endless meetings in your company and on a personal level, do
you know when you go into overdrive and it’s time to take a break?
The speed of technology will not decrease so energy management will become more and more
important on an organisational and individual level. We will have to learn how to manage the overall
energy balance of the organisation as well as personally managing our own energy levels. To do this ,
we have much to learn from the younger generation who cope much better with the new time
dilemma. They understand it’s impossible to follow the speed of technology and they clearly say no
to certain things. They make choices.
And finally, a comment on energy management in times of crisis. For most individuals, a crisis is a
stressful period in their business life. And quite a few of them are stretched to the limit, with the risk
of burnout just around the corner. When the economy picks up, companies shift gear again,
demanding that people go the extra mile. There is a risk that this could prove a push too far. Be
aware of the impact that the crisis has had and continues to have on the energy levels of people in
your organisation and take action to restore the balance before jumping into a new venture.
Individual performance management cycle goes agile
Individual performance management is a mature process in most organizations, especially bigger
ones. The downside is that the process very often becomes incredibly structured and overly complex.
With a focus on cost reduction and adaptability, we have identified seven trends and estimate they
will pick up in the following years:
From yearly to quarterly reviews: In a business world where things change at l ightning speed, the
objective setting needs to follow the business. If the overall business objectives change, individual
objectives need to change as well. If not, the exercise becomes obsolete. But as most of the current
objective-setting processes are too heavy, they aren’t adapted to the new needs. We see a clear trend
of more and more companies making the process lighter, but increasing the frequency of reviews
from once a year to a quarterly process.
Cry for simplicity becomes harder: The individual performance management process has become too
heavy in many organisations, a complexity that managers are highlighting. It’s time for organisations
to answer the question: “What is really needed, what’s at the core and what would be nice to have”
and act upon it.
Importance and quality of the learning objectives increases: The learning objectives are the
individual objectives related to the skills and competences that the individual needs to develop in
order to increase the success rate of business objectives. They are tailored to each individual and
always related to the business objectives. Most people find the setting of development objectives
much more difficult than that of business objectives. But we are slowly seeing some improvement.
The added value of performance coaching is increasingly being recognized: The manager as the
coach is a leadership style that is slowly becoming the predominant model. The role of the hierarchy
continues to be important in some parts of the world, but at least during the p erformance discussions
coaching is becoming ever more common.
Related skills development changes quite fast: Teaching people how to set, monitor and evaluate
high-quality individual objectives is also changing. The typical classroom training where you put
people in a room for one or two days and drill people to make objectives SMART is from the past.
Best-in-class companies go for high energy, short sessions that tackle the core of individual
objective setting. The use of learning instruments like video and other e-learning tools is also
becoming very popular.
More emphasis on the link with the overall strategy: Individual objective setting is not an individual
exercise that you undertake to satisfy HR. Fortunately, more and more companies are realising this
and spending time and energy to improve the link between the individual and overall strategy. This
ranges from a formal presentation or video from the CEO explaining the overall direction and
requesting what role you can play to exercises where people have to link their own goals to the level
above.
Measure the quality of the objective-setting cycle differently: “Does everyone have individual
objectives?” has been the quality norm that quite a few organisations have been using for years.
“Yes, 98 percent of our employees have individual objectives” was the victory shout. But having
objectives is not the same as having employees working at peak performance. Luckily, more and
more leaders realise this and are changing the way that they measure the quality of the individual
objective-setting process.
Execution skills in the picture in leadership programs
Strategy Execution is on its way to maturity. Robert Kaplan and David Norton started a new
management revolution in 1992 with the popularization of the Balanced Scorecard concept.
Originally launched as a new way of measuring strategy, taking other measures into account rather
than merely financial ones, the Balanced Scorecard quickly became the instrument that made
managers think harder about the implementation of their strategy.
And today, more than a decade later, Strategy Execution has grown out of its infancy and is on its
way to maturity. Organisations are adopting execution ideas. One of the trends is to define a specific
role for the organisation to keep execution efforts moving in the right direction. For example, quite a
few companies have an office of strategy management – a team reporting to the CEO or a senior
executive that monitors strategy and strategy implementation – or create a new job of Chief
Execution Officer, a senior role at the top to drive execution efforts across all business silos.
Besides execution popping up on organisational charts, we also see an increase in visibility on the
skills development side. Many best-in-class organisations today have integrated a specific Strategy
Execution module into their in-company leadership programs – a half to three-day program that’s
tailored to develop those specific execution skills that fit the company’s needs. The same goes for
open educational programs. Quite a few renowned business schools like the London Business
School, INSEAD and Wharton have recently started programs specifically tailored to develop
execution skills.
A secondary effect of this increased attention to Strategy Execution leadership development is that
people are more interested in finding out more about strategy. We see a clear trend to going back to
the basics of strategy, the ambition to go beyond the ‘blah blah’ and the motivation to understand the
true dynamics of strategy and competition.
Strategy execution: twenty conversation starters to keep you thinking and talking
The days that authors might get the last word are over.
That’s your job now.
So now that you’ve read this ultimate guide about strategy execution, go out and laud or lash it on
your blog or your favorite social network site.
But if you really want to make these ideas come alive, talk them over in person – with some
colleagues from work, study buddies, or your book club.
Here are twenty questions to get your conversation going:
1. The Execution Shortcut talks a lot about decisions. How does the decision process works in
the teams you are involved in? Is there a link between the Big Choice and the SMALL
choices?
2. Why doesn’t repetition help to overcome the Curse of Knowledge? What’s a better
technique?
3. Can you name the seven execution villains and point out your experiences how they
negatively influenced one of your ideas?
4. Why do we need to aim for the Heart first?
5. How well to you communicate? Think about a major project you where involved in and try to
point out the positives and negatives? What advice from The Execution Shortcut will help
you to improve your communication efforts?
6. We all have ideas we like to realize. What are yours? And what are three things you c an start
doing today to improve their chances for success?
7. Name your favorite story from the book and point out why? Which colleagues or friends
could benefit from it as well?
8. I point out the importance of real commitment. What’s your micro-commitment on the
projects you’re currently involved in? Are your delivering Big Yesses? If not, why not go for
a no?
9. If you’re a leader, how could you increase the autonomous decision power of your team
members?
10. What’s the most challenging goal your after? Can you improve your chances for success by
applying Bandura’s Theory?
11. (for those who read the book The Execution Shortcut) Have a look at the shortcut map. Can
you spot at least 10 ideas? (Expert) Can you name all 25 ideas? (Master) Summarize the book
using only the drawings.
12. Why are habits so important for executing an idea? What are the habits you can install to
improve your success rate?
13. What are the things that truly motivate you? How much time do they get in your agenda?
14. Why should we focus more on decision patterns instead of action plans?
15. Think about how you can continue to improve your strategy execution skills. Have a chat
with a coach, friend, co-worker to receive honest feedback.
16. Think about one of your ideas. Do others really understand what it is all about ? Are you sure?
Can you identify strategy graffiti? If so, is there a pattern? Think about ways to let the core of
your idea shine more.
 17. Take a moment to think about what success looks like for your idea. Have you defined a clear
finish line for your idea like JFK and Schrauwen? If not, try to define one.
18. 100 item challenge. How would you redesign your work environment to simplify work?
Focus on those things you can influence.
19. How do you measure success? Is it a lag or a lead measure? Can you identif y more lead
measures?
20. Identify 3 things you will start doing more as from now to become an H 3-connector.

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