Strategy – it’s always been a fascinating topic of mine in virtually every organization I’ve been part of. A significant number of companies struggle with strategy development and execution. There have been numerous studies on the topic but generally they all agree that somewhere between 60 and 90% of companies strategies fail to meet the desired outcomes. There are multiple reasons for this and I’ve detailed a few of them below:

Lack of Alignment and communication: If you ask randomly for employees to articulate the company strategy, most cannot do it. If you ask that same employee what their role is in the success of the strategy, again they cannot articulate it clearly. I’ve said it many times in my career, nothing kills a strategy quicker than lack of alignment.

Too many goals: What’s the old saying? If you try and do 100 things at once you’ll likely fail at all of them, versus focusing on 5 and so on…I’ve seen too many instances where organizations set so many goals it’s nearly impossible to measure and track them let alone conquer them.

Inability to adapt to change and course correct: There is no one answer and in a fast paced ever changing consumer environment, being inflexible or slow to react is a road to failure.

Poor execution: In my opinion it’s easier to state the goal, but much harder to clearly define what you will do to achieve it/them. There’s a lot that goes into this. Goals that aren’t measureable and are too subjective; not enough tools in the toolbox – resource poor; those doing the executing are not totally bought into the strategy; and the day to day whirlwind derails us quickly from what really matters.

Organizational Resistance: If it were easy everyone would do it. Resistance and non-believers will sink you faster than the Titanic. These people too will often sabotage the strategy. If you are not all in, then get out. When you have a rocket ship you don’t ask what seat you have, you just get on the rocket. Build teams and individuals that push and drive toward insuring they have a seat.

So what do you do knowing these barriers? For me it always started by making sure the right people were in the room. It starts with your team and while not everyone can be part of that broad based strategy development, you need leaders who are aligned with the strategy and each other who can and will effectively communicate things downstream.

Strategy is the “what” and tactics are the “how.” You need both and they must be clear, measureable, and flexible. In any given day, they should be the primary topics of discussion. Too many companies put things nicely on paper and spreadsheets then forget they exist. Meet regularly and engage multiple members to report on progress. Alternate participants so everyone is clear on roles and responsibilities.

Fewer is better. From my view 3-5 goals is sufficient but it can vary most certainly. The idea though is simple – try to do everything and you will fail. While short term goals are a realistic real world thing, focusing only or primarily there can derail your strategy quickly. Do not neglect or lose focus on the longer term vision. That is your responsibility as a leader.

Be quick to course correct. Nothing is perfect, and today’s environment needs leaders to have the vision and ability to react quickly to changes in the marketplace.

When the dust settles there’s some wisdom in doing “simple” better. Having a foundation that is strong is paramount to success. I don’t believe the concept and implementation of strategy is that complex, but making complex more complex by not doing the simple things will most likely result in failure. Just do “simple” better!