Crafting Strategic Initiatives

Introduction

Seeking operational excellence requires well crafted strategic initiatives that are aligned with the vision of the organization. This is not a given for most organizations. Scattered improvement projects cause chaos and waste precious resources.

In his book, Principle Centered Leadership, Steven Covey identifies two main problems for organizations that hold true today.

Problem 1 is the lack of a shared vision. The leadership team has either failed to define the vision or they have failed to communicate effectively. In some situations, the vision may be something uninspiring such as “make lots of money for our shareholders and executives.” Such a goal will never be a shared vision and does not need to be communicated.

Problem 2 is the lack of a strategic path. In this case, the leadership team has either failed to define a business strategy with appropriate strategic initiatives or they have failed to communicate effectively. One study found that 95% of employees are unaware of or do not understand the strategy for their organization.

In the bestseller, Switch, authors Chip and Dan Heath tackle problem 1 with advice to “Direct the Rider” because “what looks like resistance is often a lack of clarity.” There is no need to spend enormous amounts of money on operational excellence programs like lean six sigma if the people working the improvement projects do not know where the organization should go.

Chip and Dan Heath tackle problem 2 with advice to “Shape the Path” because “what looks like a people problem is often a situation problem.” An organization needs to focus on a very limited number of strategic initiatives, somewhere between 3 and 5. Launching dozens of improvement projects without direct linkage to strategic initiatives creates an environment where people do not know and cannot focus on the right priorities. Everyone looks bad and morale plummets.

“People think focus means saying yes to the thing you’ve got to focus on. But that’s not what it means at all. It means saying no to the 100 other good ideas that there are. You have to pick carefully.” – Steve Jobs    

While saying no seems like common sense, reality is often the opposite as people face the madness of daily challenges and short term pressures to make the numbers. One study reported that 95% of responding executives say their companies do not have a rigorous and disciplined process for focusing top management’s time on the most important issues.

One of the greatest responsibilities and challenges of the executive leadership team is to provide direction. In his book, The 8^th Habit, Steven Covey defines the four roles of leadership as:

1. Modeling: Setting a good example and creating trust
2. Pathfinding: Building a common vision and set of values
3. Aligning: Setting up systems to say on course
4. Empowering: Focus people on results and get out of way

   

In terms of crafting strategic initiatives, the executive leadership team must exercise the pathfinding role and focus the organization on those 3 to 5 major changes that must be accomplished in order to advance toward the long term vision. Of course, the leadership team must create a trusting environment where the vision includes the aspect of operational excellence.   

In this chapter, we will explore how an organization can define the strategic initiatives needed for driving operational excellence. We will look at the sequence of activities required to establish the destination and chart the course via strategic initiatives. These activities can be aligned into a systematic approach that focuses on the following milestones:

1. Get Organized
2. Survey Stakeholders
3. Prepare Leadership Team
4. Establish Destination
5. Chart Your Course
6. Launch Strategic Initiatives

For most small and medium sized organizations, the six milestones can be accomplished in 120 days. A typical timeline would be:

The next sections of this chapter will explore the activities leading to the successful accomplishment of each milestone.

To be continued...