4 min read ⌚ 

How to Transform Strategic Initiatives into Blockbuster Results

You have probably heard that the most important thing in business is to have a strategy. However, that is not all!

Even the best strategies are useless unless implemented into reality.

In the summary of “Implementation,” we present you with the necessary guidelines that will lead to a better execution of your company’s strategic objectives.

Who Should Read “Implementation”? and Why?

Many managers and business owners know where they want to see their companies and what they need to change or do to reach their objectives. However, frequently, they only know it in theory, but fail to implement their ideas into practice.

Situations like this do not happen due to bad strategy, but because of lousy execution.

Finishing projects is a challenge in any organization, and the authors of “Implementation” present a guidebook for getting your plans and ideas implemented. Additionally, they list different strategies and methods, as well as checklists, charts and case studies.  

We recommend “Implementation” to all managers and executives who have grand visions and need a guide to make those ideas turn into reality.

About Alan P. Brache and Sam Bodley – Scott

Alan P. Brache is an author and executive director of business solutions at a consultancy firm.

Sam Bodley-Scott is vice president of the same company and helps organizations implement change as well.

“Implementation Summary”

You probably think that for a business to succeed it is vital for it to have a good strategy.

You are right, of course, but it is not everything. The equation for success has one more variable: the implementation of the strategy.

The reality is that some great strategies fall flat and some bad strategies get implemented. Studies show that 70% of managers who bomb in their jobs have done so because, apart from other things, they neglect to execute their strategies in the market.

Poor strategy administration can be the factor that differentiates successful companies from unsuccessful ones.

Before we continue, let’s define the term “strategy.”

A strategy is a set of decisions that determine where an organization is headed and ought to reflect its core values and competencies.

Strategy excludes everyday choices and leadership. Instead, it concentrates on more critical options and steps that move an organization towards the planned direction or change the course and its core business.

Furthermore, a strategy focuses individuals’ attention and assets. At the point when an organization has a solid strategy, it can address issues of future advancement, market presumptions, capacities, and it can decide which goods and services to prioritize.

However, having a good strategy, in theory, is different from having one that you can put into practice.

To be useful, strategies must function in reality, where they are liable to control, monetary movements, societal concerns, and corporate needs.

The organization’s managers and leaders decide its strategy. Since strategy influences all your organization’s procedures, it stands at the focal point of the business model and strongly affects the components that create your business.

Those elements are managing, leading, doing the business, accomplishing objectives, measuring the result of activities, scattering data company-wide and among people, organizing departments, and settling issues connected to corporate culture.

What can a successful strategy like this do for a company?

An organization with a methodology that joins all of the mentioned parts is ready to actualize and implement the organization’s vision in the market.

Businesses launch activities to present new goods and services, make erroneous processes better, distinguish market niches or secure competitive assets.

Additionally, companies come up with new strategies to prevail in the global economy. Organizations frequently find that global achievements depend on taking advantage of opportunities and being creative, rather than on making small developments on current products.

Simply put, global success happens when companies present products and services in new ways.

Key Lessons from “Implementation”

1.      Why Strategic Initiatives Fail
2.      The Role of Leadership  
3.      Organizational Culture

Why Strategic Initiatives Fail

To change your company’s direction, managers and executives need to deal with many uncertain circumstances. Planning and taking a strategic initiative is the best way to take care of unusual events, even though it may seem that the odds are against you.

Strategic initiatives do not succeed for the next reasons:

• • Failure to articulate strategy initiatives clearly

• • Overloading

• • Over-reorganization

• • The wrong corporate culture for change

• • Inappropriate staffing

• • Lack of a common nomenclature

• • Failure to monitor and report

• Impatience

The Role of Leadership

The implementation of the strategy is a responsibility of top managers. Senior level staff should create strategies since they know the market and the business environment.

To develop a successful strategic initiative, first, decide on the project’s scope. Defining the scope establishes boundaries, and it states what the products and benefits that the project will yield are.

To formalize the list of activities that you need to have done, use a Strategic Master Project Plan, which will help you to convert your objective into reality.

Organizational Culture

The culture that exists within a company can make or break a project. Make sure to build a culture that accepts change. To shape the culture, motivate and reward employees who perform well and achieve great objectives.

Giving feedback to the participants of projects pushes for a greater participation and effort. When managers, on the other hand, do not provide feedback, workers assume that the performance of the project is not vital.

In other words, the company’s most significant cultural influence is the management, so managers should act in ways that reflect the overall strategy of the company.

Like this summary? We’d Like to invite you to download our free 12 min app, for more amazing summaries and audiobooks.

“Implementation” Quotes

Our Critical Review

“Implementation” is a manual which targets managers and executives who wish to implement their strategies, and who look for good advice on better execution of their goals.

Emir Zecovic

Emir is the Head of Marketing at 12min. In his spare time, he loves to meditate and play soccer.