Strategic Plan Execution Support

What if we stopped the strategy vs. execution debate and recognized that strategy and execution actually work best in tandem, evolving together. Over and over again, we hear executives talking about the struggle to bridge the gap between strategy formulation and execution, indicating of course that many strategies are not effectively rolled out. 🤷♀️ It has been this way for years and it has taken us too long to realize that traditional set-in-stone strategic plans simply don't work. And neither do execution plans that focus on implementing a predefined strategy. Companies need agile adaptable strategies that respond to real-time challenges. Even if they have a 10 year plan, they still need a REAL-TIME PLAN. It's time to stop viewing strategy as a strict roadmap, and see it as a living framework—something that evolves with our teams, customers, and markets. This way of working requires a mindset of 'doing informs direction' Instead of viewing strategy as a separate, upfront blueprint that’s followed by execution, this approach integrates the two: strategy becomes a fluid process that evolves as teams execute and learn. Traditionalists may struggle with this shift because we are essentially talking about blending strategy and execution from the start- they may even question how to even do it. So, here's a few simple tips: ✳️ 1. Set Up Simple Monitoring and Reporting Systems Instead of waiting for annual reviews, create regular (even monthly) check-ins where teams report on progress and challenges. Encourage them to flag areas where adapting the strategy would be beneficial (means they have to read it regularly). ✳️ 2. Make Updates Part of the Plan: Integrate a simple versioning process ( even quarterly). When adjustments are made, update a “living document” with clear markers noting each update’s rationale and potential impact. This way, everyone works from the same strategic blueprint—just updated as needed. ✳️ 3. Designate Strategy ‘Owners’: Assign individuals or teams as “owners” of specific strategic areas. Their role is to ensure consistency, track changes, and gather insights on what’s working and what needs refinement. This approach makes it easier to manage updates and stay aligned. ✳️ 4. Keep the Big Picture in View: While it’s important to focus on real-time changes, stay connected to your overall goals. Each adjustment should still support the long-term vision. Regularly review how all pieces are coming together. 💡This shift is relevant for every industry, but especially fast-changing industries, where it's clear that waiting for annual reviews or rigid plans has led to missed opportunities for growth and adaptation. ❓ What do you think? Do you agree? _________________________________________ I’m Catherine McDonald, a Lean Business and Leadership Development Coach. Follow me for insights on Lean, Leadership, Coaching, and Organizational Behaviour, or visit my website at  www.mcdconsulting.ie for more information.

In the traditional business landscape, strategy formulation often takes precedence over execution. However, what if reversing this order could unlock greater success? Here’s why focusing on execution first can be a game-changer for organizations: 1. Real-World Insight: Prioritizing execution allows organizations to gather practical insights and align strategies with actual conditions. This ensures plans are based on real-world data rather than theoretical assumptions. 2. Continuous Learning: Execution fosters a culture of continuous learning. As organizations implement their strategies, they collect valuable feedback, allowing them to refine their approaches and adapt to changing circumstances. 3. Adaptive Flexibility: In today's fast-paced market, adaptability is crucial. By emphasizing execution, organizations can quickly respond to market changes, ensuring their strategies remain relevant and effective. 4. Stakeholder Engagement: Early execution involves stakeholders directly, fostering a sense of ownership and alignment. This collaborative approach ensures everyone is committed to the same strategic goals, reducing resistance and enhancing commitment. 5. Tangible Outcomes: Focusing on execution drives measurable results. This practical emphasis ensures that strategies are not just theoretical exercises but are translated into actions that generate real value for the organization. How to Use This Info: 1. Analyze Your Current Context: Before diving into strategy design, thoroughly understand your organization’s current situation. Align your strategy with real-world conditions and constraints. 2. Learn from Past Initiatives: Review significant projects and initiatives from the past year. Identify what worked and what didn’t. Use these insights as input for your strategic planning. 3. Identify Immediate Actions: Even while formulating your strategy, identify actions you can take right away. There’s always something you can start doing. Implement these actions and adapt as you learn. 4. Engage Stakeholders Early: Develop early initiatives that engage stakeholders. This helps build commitment and alignment. Use these early initiatives to gather feedback and improve your approach. 5. Focus on Measurable Results: Aim for early, tangible outcomes. Use these initial successes to demonstrate accountability and to show that your strategy is practical and effective. While strategy formulation is crucial for setting direction, focusing on execution first highlights the importance of turning plans into action. By executing and learning from the process, organizations can refine their strategies, enhance their chances of success, and achieve sustainable growth.

Execution is Not Tactical. It is Leadership. Execution does not get enough respect in product management conversations. We talk about vision. We talk about strategy. We talk about owning outcomes. All of that matters. But none of it matters if you do not execute well. Execution is where credibility is earned. It is where trust is built. It is where strategy meets reality. So what does proper execution look like? 🎯 Define the problem before you build Strong execution starts upstream. You clarify the problem. You align stakeholders on the outcome. You quantify the opportunity. You define how success will be measured. If you cannot tie the work to revenue, retention, cost reduction, or customer experience, you are not ready to execute. 🛑 Protect focus and priority You guard the roadmap. You push back on scope creep. You resist the urge to chase every new request. Execution requires discipline. When priorities shift weekly, teams slow down and morale drops. Focus drives momentum. 🧠 Create clarity for engineering - Clear problem statements. - Clear acceptance criteria. - Clear tradeoffs. Ambiguity creates rework and rework kills velocity. When engineering understands the why and the constraints, delivery accelerates and quality improves. 📊 Measure outcomes, not output Shipping features is activity. Driving adoption is execution. Improving revenue, retention, margin, or NPS is success. If you are not reviewing post launch performance, you are managing releases, not products. 🤝 Orchestrate cross functional readiness You align sales on positioning. You equip marketing with messaging. You prepare support for new workflows. You ensure implementation teams are trained. If the feature ships and the organization is unprepared, execution failed. Execution is not busy work. It is disciplined coordination across the business. It requires judgment, prioritization, communication, and accountability. Here is the reality. A strong strategy with weak execution fails. A good strategy with strong execution often wins. You need both. You set the direction. You align the organization. You deliver measurable outcomes. Execution is not beneath product leadership. It is proof you can turn strategy into results.

You’ve heard it before: strategy dies in execution. But did you know your annual planning deck is the murder weapon? I stay on with some clients as a fractional CSO after we finish strategy work. They all hit the same wall when operational planning season rolls around. They organize the deck by function. By line of business. By reporting structure. And I watch their strategy—thoughtful, bold, aligned with capabilities—get relegated to the background. A mere reference point. Nobody likes it when I tell them to organize around their strategy instead. — The simplest hack for turning strategy into action is to structure your annual operational planning deck around your 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝘆, 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗼𝗿𝗴 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗿𝘁. Make the strategic pillars the headers. Then show how each function contributes underneath. Of course, simple doesn’t mean easy. But the reasons you resist are exactly the reasons you need to do it. "𝗜𝘁'𝘀 𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗼𝗼𝗿𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗮𝗰𝗿𝗼𝘀𝘀 𝗳𝘂𝗻𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀." → Correct. If you can't coordinate to build a deck, you'll never coordinate to execute a strategy. Better to surface that now. "𝗜 𝗱𝗼𝗻'𝘁 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝗱𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸." → That means each strategic pillar needs a clear owner. Not to do it alone, but to orchestrate progress. Not just now, but all year. If everyone owns the strategy, no one does. "𝗠𝘆 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗻'𝘁 𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘀." → Then this is their development opportunity. If the CEO needs to own the whole strategy, you’re the pinch point. And your team is underleveraged. "𝗣𝗿𝗶𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗹 𝗷𝘂𝗺𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗱." → That’s BECAUSE you’re thinking functionally. The strategy defines the priorities. If a leader's goals don't fit, they need to change. "𝗢𝘂𝗿 𝗯𝗼𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗲𝗲 𝗶𝘁 𝗯𝘆 𝗳𝘂𝗻𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻." → You trained them to expect that. They'll adjust to something new. Put the functional org charts and resource requests in the appendix. "𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗱𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗰 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴?" → It’s not supposed to be. Other than time horizon. One contemplates multi-year trends; the other translates them into this year's priorities, resources, and tactics. When you're doing it right, one is a zoom-in of the other. Strategy only succeeds when it’s wired into your operating rhythm. Start with the deck.

The reason your nonprofit's strategic plan can't seem to ignite your team? The plan doesn’t make their daily work easier. Too many strategic plans are packed with big goals and no clear day-to-day alignment. Staff see them as "extra" rather than essential. Board members review them once and move on. Leadership assumes things are moving forward. But the plan sits on the shelf. Instead, make strategy impossible to ignore by integrating it into the daily work. • Break big goals into 90-day execution cycles. Long-term plans fail when short-term action steps are unclear. Reverse engineer what success looks like in 3 months ->1 month -> 1 week.    • Align KPIs with actual job roles. A KPI (Key Performance Indicator) is a measurable goal that tracks progress toward a strategic priority. Each person on your team should see how their work directly aligns within the plan.    • Set a Weekly Focus. Strategy execution can falter when everything is treated as urgent. One approach is to decide on a single priority area or “theme” for the week. Example: Week 1: Donor Communication; Week 2: Program Development; Week 3: Staff Training. A weekly focus doesn’t mean everything else stops, but when a battle of priorities emerges, it helps keep the team on track. • Ensure leadership models follow-through. If executives and board members only talk about the plan once a year, it won’t stick. Progress check-ins should be built into regular meetings. Ask your team what you can do to remove barriers and bring that insight to board meetings.    Strategy isn’t a document. It’s a set of decisions that guide what actually gets done. The more it connects to your daily work, the less likely it is to collect dust. What’s one thing that has helped your organization keep your strategic plan relevant and useful?

In the world of financial strategy, planning is 5% of the work. Execution is the real game-changer, accounting for 95% of success. The most strategic finance teams I know don’t just inform teams of their targets - they drive execution across the entire organization. Here's Abacum's 6-step playbook to turn strategy into action: 1. Establish accountability If nobody is responsible, work isn’t just “going to happen.” Assign specific owners with clear deadlines to each objective, and stay flexible enough to reallocate as needed. 2. Focus on input metrics Look beyond the outcome. Focus on the vital actions that hit targets - sales calls, marketing campaigns, support tickets resolved. These input metrics are your leading indicators of success, and need to be within your strategic finance scope. 3. Measure the metrics, loudly Visibility drives accountability, so make progress visible and available to the team. Share input and output metrics in team meetings, dashboards, and internal comms. Celebrate wins and hold people accountable for misses. Addressing performance gaps keeps transparency and intensity high. 4. Personally track key indicators Develop a holistic understanding of how metrics connect. Your ability to quickly diagnose anomalies is a strategic superpower. 5. Align incentives to targets Make sure team incentives—like pay and other perks—match company goals. Example: reward sales for outbound activity, not just closed deals, to encourage long-term success. 6. Iterate quickly Execution is about progress, not perfection. Quickly pivot tactics that aren't delivering results. Be willing to change tactics as often as needed. The ability to pivot fast is more important than being meticulous about every single move. By following these 6 steps, you'll lead the “plan, action, iterate” cycle in your company. Ruthlessly monitor execution to ensure your company doesn’t just plan well but performs well. I dive deeper into each of these steps in the latest edition of our newsletter 'FP&A Stories from the Trenches.' If you're interested, check the link in the comments to subscribe and give it a read.

Understanding your Processes is the key to Strategy Execution! The key to executing your strategy is achieving alignment—ensuring that all elements of your business, including strategy, organizational structure, processes, and technology, are orchestrated to support long-term success. Yet, many organizations struggle with execution because while leadership defines strategy, the connection to execution gets lost: Practitioners lack clarity on how their roles contribute to strategic goals, leading to misalignment and inefficiencies Complexity breeds poor communication and silos, making cross-functional coordination difficult Disconnected people, processes, and technology obscure impact analysis and make it challenging to measure progress effectively How can organizations overcome this? By establishing a structured, continuously maintained Inventory of processes within a Process Taxonomy—an essential foundation for alignment and execution. A well-defined Process Inventory provides: A business-oriented lens to pinpoint the impact of change with precision A common language that enables effective collaboration across teams Traceability & transparency, ensuring alignment from strategy to execution A single source of truth for understanding organizational intelligence and resources Clear accountability and ownership for both change initiatives and ongoing operations A feedback mechanism that equips strategy leaders with real-time insights into strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT). To deliver on this alignment, organizations must invest in building a Process Capability—one that enables them to create, maintain, and evolve their process knowledge over time. The cost of not doing this? Wasted transformation investments, frustrated customers, and lost competitive advantage when execution fails to deliver on strategic objectives. To learn more about this framework and approach, check out my book https://a.co/d/1ajgWhI Would love to hear your thoughts—what challenges have you faced when driving execution on strategy?

Strategy without execution is just a nice idea. The Execution Premium Process (XPP) turns strategy into sustained results—and here’s how: ☑ Bridges the gap between planning and doing   ↳ Aligns teams with strategy using scorecards and strategy maps   ↳ Translates big ideas into daily actions  ☑ Connects strategy to budgets and operations   ↳ Ensures goals are resourced and tracked   ↳ Keeps dashboards focused on what matters  ☑ Enables continuous improvement   ↳ Monthly reviews, lead/lag indicators, and feedback loops   ↳ Built-in agility through scenario planning  ☑ Institutionalises strategic focus   ↳ The Office of Strategy Management (OSM) drives execution   ↳ Keeps strategy alive across leadership changes  ☑ Embeds proactive risk management   ↳ Identifies threats early with Strategic Risk Indicators   ↳ Adjusts plans before it’s too late  Remember 1. Strategy fails without structure.   2. XPP turns plans into real progress.  If you’re looking to operationalise strategy at scale, XPP might be your blueprint. P.S. If you like content like this, please follow me.

Key elements to execute a sustainability strategy 🌍 A sustainability strategy is not defined by its design but by its execution. Execution depends on structure, alignment, and consistency across the organization. This diagram outlines six elements that support the implementation of sustainability strategies in practice. Executive support matters. Leaders play a critical role by creating accountability and enabling teams to act with purpose and clarity. Building capacity requires more than awareness. Each function must have the tools, knowledge, and ownership to act within its operational reality. Progress needs to be measured through indicators that align with both sustainability priorities and business outcomes. Early results help maintain momentum. Their value increases when they are connected to a clear long-term direction. Integration into processes matters. Sustainability needs to influence how decisions are made in planning, procurement, and daily operations. Adaptability is necessary. Evolving regulations, stakeholder expectations, and market conditions require organizations to stay responsive without losing focus. The challenge is not limited to strategy development. Coordinating people, systems, and incentives is what makes implementation effective. Execution is continuous. It shapes whether a strategy leads to real outcomes or remains aspirational. #sustainability #sustainable #business #esg #strategy

Strategy without execution is just a dream (Don’t let poor planning hold your business back) I’ve seen countless organizations struggle Not because of bad ideas, but because of poor execution. Once I understood this, my approach to strategy changed forever. Here’s how to bridge the gap between planning and execution: 1️⃣ Vision means nothing without action ↳ A great strategy is worthless if it stays on paper. ↳ Define clear, measurable steps to bring it to life. 2️⃣ Prioritize execution over perfection ↳ A good plan executed today is better than waiting for tomorrow. ↳ Start, adapt, and refine as you go. 3️⃣ Align teams around clear goals ↳ Everyone should understand their role in the bigger picture. ↳ Set KPIs that drive focus and accountability. 4️⃣ Agility beats rigidity ↳ Markets change and your strategy should too. ↳ Review, adjust, and pivot when needed. 5️⃣ Data-driven decisions win ↳ Intuition matters, but data should guide execution. ↳ Measure progress and iterate based on insights. 6️⃣ Strong leadership fuels execution ↳ Execution fails when leaders don’t inspire action. ↳ Communicate the “why” behind every initiative. 7️⃣ Turn setbacks into learning ↳ Not every plan works, and that’s okay. ↳ Analyze failures, refine strategies, and move forward. 📌 Strategy without execution is wishful thinking. The real impact comes from taking action. P.S. Strategy is a journey, not a one-time event. ⛔ Don't create plans without execution. ⛔ Don't resist change, stay agile for success. ⛔ Don't ignore market shifts, adapt and refine. ⛔ Don't wait for the “perfect” strategy, start now. ⛔ Don't treat setbacks as failures, learn and iterate. ⛔ Don't make decisions based on gut alone, use data. ⛔ Don't overlook team alignment, clarity drives results. ⛔ Don't set goals without accountability, track progress. Which strategy shift will help you execute better?