STRONGER ON IMPLEMENTATION

 

Some organizations suffer from a problem where they constantly fail to implement new strategies, even though there does not seem to be any clear opposition to these ...

Two researchers at MIT decided to look for the cause. They found six synergistic risk factors and present six strategies to counteract this.

 
In the article "The Silent Killers of Strategy Implementation and Learning", the authors Michael Beer and Russell A. Eisenstat have analyzed a number of larger companies that have failed to implement new, decided strategies.

The result is a list of six "silent barriers" within the organization that, without making much of a fuss, can effectively block all attempts to implement new strategies.The six barriers are sorted under three different factors, all of which are needed for successful implementation You can read a more detailed description of the silent barriers by clicking here.

Below you will find the strategies / measures that counteract these obstacles and strengthen the organization's ability to implement strategies, which are partly based on the proposed methods to be able to identify, manage and remove the six barriers that the authors describe in their article.
 
The article can be ordered via Sloan Management Review¶
 

Six silent "barriers" that prevent implementation

 
 
1. Poor quality of direction - The ability of top management to create an agreed, clear, anchorable and attractive vision
  • Inefficient senior management team - An ineffective management team does not create sustainable agreements and does not take responsibility for implementation)
  • Unclear strategies and conflicting priorities - A management team where group members guard their territories do not take on the tough discussions about prioritization and redistribution that would be needed to succeed, leading to unclear agreements / strategies
  • Let-go or Top-down leadership style in the top management team - A leadership with inadequate follow-up and little or no consequence when there are deviations (a type of let-go leadership style) or a top-down leadership style builds a gap between management and the rest of the organization.
2. Poor quality of learning - Poor learning leads to a lack of understanding of the goal / strategies in the organization and poor ability to adjust the strategies or implementation, if something unforeseen happens in the organization
  • Poor vertical communication in the organization - If the vertical communication does not work, the motives and trade-offs behind the management's strategies are not communicated downwards, and the challenges that arise during implementation are not communicated upwards.
3. Poor quality of implementation - Factors that affect the power of the rollout of the new vision
  • Poor collaboration across functions, business units and boundaries - When the managers in the management team do not collaborate, it leads to their departments / units not collaborating either, which slows down all strategies that require collaboration.
  • Insufficient leadership and development in the lower management levels - Insufficient leadership from the management often creates a lack of commitment and over-operational leadership in the line, which does not contribute enough in the implementation of the long-term strategies.
However, if you discover that your own organization suffers from one or more of these hindering factors, it is a step forward! Then there is a great potential for development, if you actively work away these slowing factors!
 

Six strategies that counteract the "silent barriers" in an organization

 
Here I describe the measures that counteract the "silent obstacles" and strengthen the organization's ability to implement strategies, which are partly based on the proposals for methods to be able to identify, manage and remove the six barriers that the authors describe in their article.
 
1. Increased quality of direction - The top management's ability to create an agreed, clear, anchorable and attractive vision
  • Effective top management team - An effective management team creates sustainable agreements and takes responsibility for implementation. An effective management team means a collaborative management team that works with a clear focus on the organization's best interests, where the members of the group feel trust and respect for each other and who support, challenge and hold each other responsible for decisions made.
  • Clear strategies and clear priorities - An effective management team can take on the tough discussions about prioritization and redistribution needed to succeed, leading to clearer agreements / strategies and priorities. Clear strategies and priorities are a necessity to get enough focus in the change work and succeed with the implementation.
  • Committed leadership in top management - Committed leadership in management, where members of the management team have regular dialogues with their subordinate managers about the vision and strategies and have an active follow-up with clear feedback regarding implementation, reduces the gap between management and the rest of the organization. It also makes it easier for the organization to be inspired by and carry out the management's vision, and by feedbacking any challenges in implementing the strategies to the management, the vision or goals can be adjusted so that they become realistic.
2. Increased quality of learning - An increased ability to learn provides a better understanding of the goal / strategies in the organization and an opportunity to adjust the strategies or implementation based on what happens in the organization
  • Well-functioning vertical communication in the organization - If the vertical communication through the management system works, it means that:
    - the motives and trade-offs behind the management's decided strategies are communicated to the entire organization, which creates an increased understanding in the implementation of the strategies, and
    - if the challenges that arise during the implementation are communicated upwards in the organization, the management can learn from what is happening, make relevant adjustments to the strategies and act to increase the conditions for success with the implementation.
3. Increased quality of implementation - The factors that affect the power of the rollout of the new vision at the far end of the organization
  • Active collaboration across functions, business units and borders - When the managers in the management team collaborate, the conditions for their departments / units to be able to collaborate increase. If the units work actively with collaboration and collaboration, the possibility of implementing the organization's overall strategies also increases (which often requires collaboration and collaboration between several departments / units).
  • Active leadership and development in the lower management levels - A committed and active leadership from the management creates better conditions for a committed and active leadership in the line. By investing in leadership development, by having active strategic dialogues, it will be easier for the managers in the line to contribute to the implementation of the more long-term strategies.