Agile Strategy Execution: Revolutionizing the How!

Leaders of most firms today are painfully aware of how difficult it is to execute strategies effectively in their organizations. Industry research has well documented this reality, with the success needle barely moving over the past 20 years. Our intent in this book is to merge 'agile concepts' with strategy execution 'Best Practices' resulting in an easy to understand set of principles and techniques, organized in a meaningful, practical and quickly deployable Agile Strategy Execution Framework™. This framework is presented through the eyes of organizations where it has been successfully used to drive improvements in how strategy gets executed. We expect this book to help leaders and strategy practitioners revolutionize their business models by becoming more agile in an aligned, accountable and responsive way.

Our Agile Strategy Execution Framework™ is composed of six Dimensions and two Influencing Factors, which can be summarized as follows:

Dimension #1: Detailed Plans and Metrics involves incorporating a systematic and disciplined approach that focuses on translating breakthrough organizational goals, objectives and strategies into specific functional area, team and individual plans and their associated metrics.

Dimension #2: Align and Link means ensuring that strategic goals are aligned and linked to projects, programs, run-the-business activities and process improvement efforts both vertically and cross-functionally driving progress/actions at all organization levels.

Dimension #3: Real-Time Updates involves institutionalizing a transparent Single Source of Truth online for all plan collaboration, engagement and reporting and then driving real-time plan updates based on day to day triggers, ensuring properly prioritized & scheduled work.

Dimension #4: Cadence Decisions means ensuring proactive real-time resourcing, course correcting solution and backlog management decision-making processes.

Dimension #5: Innovation Bets involves identifying and executing small opportunities to study, pilot or test new innovations that reflect current market conditions, new technology or other advances.

Dimension #6: Refresh or Transform means formally reassessing core business assumptions, updating strategic plans and tactics, reviewing priorities, linkages and alignment and then pivoting as needed.

Influencing Factor #1: The Culture Impacts Influencing Factor involves assessing formal vs. informal, and preached vs. practiced corporate culture. Leaders can then either use their culture as an enabling driver for managing change or if needed initiate processes to drive needed culture change.

Influencing Factor #2: The Connected Governance™ Influencing Factor involves using leading edge digitization experiences to link leadership practices, employee engagement mechanisms and collaboration processes.

Also shared are the details of an Agile Strategy Execution Maturity Model that can be used to help organizations assess their own progress in executing strategy with more agility on an evolving scale and ascertain where they would like to be in the future. The Agile Strategy Execution Framework™ can then be used to target improvement areas and provide guideposts and methods as to how to move up the agile strategy execution maturity curve. Also in the Appendix are a select number of techniques and templates that the authors have found useful to help jumpstart improvement efforts.

In conclusion, what makes strategy execution agile is an ecosystem focused on alignment (both functional and cross-functional), accountability (through data-driven with team and individual buy-in and ownership) and responsiveness (to changing internal and external landscapes). In this way strategies and tactics can be continuously adapted, pivoted and realigned to meet execution performance expectations in an agile way.

Gaye I. Clemson is an award-winning storyteller, communications and training innovator, culture change leader, organization performance metrics designer and strategic planning process facilitator, who brings many years of enterprise strategy and key initiative portfolio management expertise. She has held a number of functional roles in marketing, sales, international business and customer support. She currently leads Globalinkage Consulting, a consultancy that helps firms strengthen employee engagement, improve organizational performance and evolve operating models to enable innovative governance and decision-making processes. She speaks frequently at national and local industry conferences including most recently the NCHRA Global HR Summit, ASP National Conferences (2006, 2009 & 2015) the Bay Area’s Strategy Execution Conference (Oct 2014). She is a published author of nine oral history narratives. She holds an Honours BCom from Queen’s University at Kingston and is a Stanford Certified Project Manager.

Alan Leeds is the president of Agile Strategy Manager, a strategy to execution software division of Y-Change Inc., a software company enabling progressive companies to convert strategy into reality. His expertise in agile strategy deployment, execution, change management methodologies and online software has helped companies deliver tangible operating results in organizations such as Raytheon, Cisco Systems, and Texas Instruments, Abbott Medical Optics and Great River Energy.

An ASP (Association for Strategic Planning) Certified Strategic Management Professional (SMP), Alan is also on their Board of Directors and was inducted into their Hall of Fame in 2012. He was instrumental in the founding of the NorCal Chapter of the ASP. As a thought leader in strategic planning and agile strategy execution in the strategy community, he has produced high-quality software tools for planners across the country. Alan holds a Masters degree from SUNY and a BS from Syracuse University. Alan’s speaking engagements have included presentations for the PMI conference at Sonoma State, several national conferences for the ASP, and a presentation at the Agile2016 conference in Atlanta. As an award-winning magician, he often incorporates magic into his presentations.