Implementing strategy is hard work - but you can get out of it

I've been involved in strategy for long enough to know that formulating and implementing it is almost always hard work. (Although hard work which is so rewarding never seems quite that onerous!)

Over the years I've seen a large number of people avoid the hard work of strategy implementation by employing a simple little trick. When presented with a new strategy and asked to commit to delivering it, They simply say:

That's a really great strategy and I'm totally behind it. Even better, what I'm already doing is already totally aligned with the new strategy.

It's a great get out because you get to appear to be enthusiastic, part of the team and forward-looking. But you don't actually have to do or change anything.

The catch is, of course, that it's a dangerous fallacy. Albeit an extremely seductive and perversely comforting one.

There are three ways in which it could be true:

1. What you do is not impacted by the strategy, nor does it impact the strategy. That may be true, but it's probably not a good omen for your continued job security!
2. Previously, you were actually doing something which did not support the old strategy, but which by some extraordinary coincidence actually completely supports the new strategy. I guess such an extreme coincidence is at least theoretically possible. But you've just admitted you hadn't been a supporter of the previous strategy. And you've just attributed the fact that you are supporting this one to blind luck. That's probably not the impression you thought you were creating.
3. You don't really understand the new strategy and how it is different from the old one. (Or perhaps it isn't - but that's a problem for another day.) Sooner or later, you will be found out!

No. The only way to deliver strategy is to take a long hard look at everything you currently do, and consider how at least some of it should change. Hard work that may be, but it's also what make strategy so exciting.

photo credit: One Way Stock via photopin cc

Which social media post is your favorite?

I really enjoyed this Google+ post from Nespresso:

Which sip is your favourite: the first or the last?

Why? you may ask. Well, for a number of reasons:

1. Its simple and direct. No airs and graces.
2. It contains a neat little NLP auto-suggestion. It sets in motion a thought pattern in which it is assumed that you already like Nespresso. It gets you thinking about another question before you've had a chance to question: "Hang on, who says I even like Nespresso at all?" Clearly, someone who consciously strongly dislikes Nespresso may be able to override this suggestion, but then they are almost certainly not the target of this little promotion.
3. There is clearly no right or wrong answer, and no sense that anyone is any more or less qualified to answer it than anyone else is. As a result, everyone feels equally entitle to express a view and become engaged. But whatever view you express, even if your view is to challenge the question itself (see the comment below the post itself), you're still most likely doing so within the overall context of liking Nespresso.
4. Anyone who reads the question will immediately and subconsciously start to think about enjoying Nespresso, whether they've ever done so before or not - that's the only way to engage with the question! Perfect marketing.

And, as a coffee lover (the clue is in the title of my blog!) and an owner of a Nespresso machine, that last reason alone was enough. Time for a cuppa, I think...