Are Your Organization’s Capabilities Aligned With Your Strategy?
Imagine you’re faced with creating organizational change. You need to do something big and bold to turn around the organization’s downward trajectory. Or you need to catapult growth. You have some great, innovative ideas that you’ve vetted and know they’ll make a positive impact. You have a budget, resources, and a rollout plan. You’re all ready to go — or are you?
One key element to any successful change that many leaders overlook is having an honest understanding of their organization’s capabilities. New ideas come with a bright and alluring sheen that is hard to turn away from. You gain momentum and buy-in to the idea, and it’s incredibly difficult to put the brakes on. Yet the question is, can your organization deliver on the idea?
For example, say a company wants to become “the tech leader” in their industry. They’ve identified that consumers are seeking more tech-based, self-serve options, and they know they are woefully behind their competitors. Seems like, on the surface, a straightforward strategy to tackle. However, their current tech stack is incredibly outdated. The development team is comprised of legacy coders, who have never implemented a major transformation before. The organization as a whole isn’t very tech-savvy and isn’t used to process changes. This is the problem with the strategy — the organization isn’t up to it.
This doesn’t mean the strategy is all bad or unreachable. Many would argue that lofty strategic goals are a good thing. But just like deciding to become the best golfer in the world, you should first determine whether you have some basic golf talent in the first place. Unless the leader in this scenario plans to uproot the entire organization, churning new people in until completely overhauled, this lofty strategy implementation will be a long and rough road. In addition, the turmoil caused by such a massive change will be a project in and of itself ( the caveat is that sometimes a leader will anyway).
So what should be done instead? First, conduct a thorough assessment of your organization’s true capabilities. What are you amazing at? That none of your competitors do or do as well as you. What is something you can capitalize on? What is the thing you can leverage? This is a great litmus test for your strategy. Does your current state — whether skills, culture, infrastructure, and capabilities — realistically has a chance to be able to implement your strategy? If not, is your strategy too far afield or misaligned with the realities of today?
Don’t misunderstand me — a strategy should have room for growth. Yet without having a firm grip on your organization’s real-world abilities, you might be stretching too far. No amount of communications or execution planning will be able to bridge the chasm. The smarter approach is to design a strategy that capitalizes on the best organizational attributes you have today and leverage those with a strategy that can create a competitive advantage that can actually be implemented. Otherwise, you may simply have an aspirational strategy without any basis in reality.
About the Author
Andrea’s 24-year, field-tested background provides practical, behavioral science approaches to creating differentiated, human-focused organizations. A 4x ADDY award-winner, TEDx presenter, and 3x book author, she began her career at a tech start-up and led the strategic sales, marketing, and customer engagement efforts at two global industrial manufacturers. She now leads a consultancy dedicated to helping organizations differentiate their brands using behavioral science.
In addition to writing and consulting, Andrea speaks to leaders and industry organizations around the world. Connect with Andrea to access information on her book, keynoting, research, or consulting. More information is also available on www.pragmadik.com or www.andreabelkolson.com.
Originally published at https://www.linkedin.com.
