Hard Work Can’t Outpace Bad Strategy: Q&A with Marty and Em

Episode #304 // There are many things that can go wrong between when we utter the words, “Let’s develop our corporate strategy” and the words, “How did we perform last year?”

I get a lot of questions about the strategy process, and one thing has become really obvious to me — very few people realize how many moving parts there are… not just in developing a sound strategy, but also in setting up the environment for successful execution of that strategy.

One of the biggest problems with strategy is that we tend to see it as a process — an annual ritual to be conducted, rather than a culture and mindset that requires senior leadership focus, 24 x 7 x 365.

Without this continuing focus, leadership teams can easily fall into the more obvious traps for young players… like investing to grow a product that doesn’t earn sufficient returns to cover its cost of capital.

But there are many more potential problems that conspire to derail your strategy well after the board has signed off on it. Problems like:

• Not using a zero base to develop your work program;
• Not truly understanding the drivers that deliver the greatest value; and
• Allowing people to simply continue the activity that they’re most comfortable with.

In this episode, I explain why — as important as it is to understand — the theory of strategy is necessary, but not sufficient. As a bonus, I also reveal a new concept that I haven’t spoken about before: the productivity v efficiency multiplier!

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