Summary
- Without strong change capability, even the best strategy is in jeopardy. I’ve often said “better an average strategy with great execution, than a great strategy with average execution”.
- There are various paths to success but execution makes the difference. There's rarely just one ‘right’ strategy, often, several good options exist. What matters most is how well the organisation brings it to life.
- It’s the people approach that makes change last. It's not plans on paper that make a strategy work, it's how people are engaged, equipped and supported to make change happen.
It’s no secret that the Epion team and I are committed to Change Excellence. But this commitment only works if the change we are delivering is anchored to something meaningful.
It’s no good transforming processes just to do the wrong things more efficiently. That’s a risk that comes when change runs without strategy. So while we can all be tempted to ‘shake things up a bit’, let’s be mindful that, without strategy, change can be hard to justify and often hard to sustain.
This is why change must be guided by strategy. The story of change should include the ‘why’ as well as the ‘what’s in it for me’. If that clarity is missing, change can feel random or confusing to the people it affects.
But the reverse is also true. Strategy can’t stop at high-level direction. It needs to reach into the practicalities, i.e. the ‘how’, if it’s going to lead anywhere useful.
Years ago, I worked with a large tech company whose strategy consultants had advised them to shift focus to high-end products and work more closely with resellers. On paper, that made sense: it recommended ‘what’ to do. But it didn’t explain why customers would want those high-end products, or what changes the business would need to make to support the shift.
In practice, we had to finish the strategy work, evaluating the purpose and figuring out the ‘how’, before we could even begin to deliver the change.
When strategy and change are disconnected, both can falter. But when they’re joined up, when a strategic vision is translated into practical, people-centred change. That’s when we can make real progress.
By Nick Smith
