First a clarification of terms. When I say org strategy, I’m referring collectively to:
• Vision statement
• Mission statement
• Belief statement (your “why”)
• Core values
• Standards
• Keys to success
These are the guiding principles of your organization. They should all work together.
Also, I’m specifically talking about the articulation of your organization’s strategy — what you say and how you say it. Not whether the strategy itself is right or wrong.
You certainly don’t want your strategy to be wrong. It’s way too important. So no doubt you’ll give it all due energy. You might read all the best books and blog posts. Hire a top consultant. Spend countless hours in debate. All to arrive at a set of words that gets it right… and (even more challenging) gets approved.
And then? Rollout. With hopes and prayers that your strategy is well-received and roundly adopted. Because if it’s met with “meh,” all that effort was wasted. Even worse? Eye rolls. When your strategy feels insincere… rather than inspiring. More useful for making fun of… than for making decisions by. Too many times, some well-intended elements end up as memes or lampooned on lists like The 9 Worst Mission Statements Of All Time.
You can avoid that.
After all you’ve put into it, here’s what you don’t want to come out of it:
Okay, okay. I’m exaggerating when I say “nobody.” Obviously the people who created the strategy understand it. So if you’re those people, great. But, you’re not the target audience; the rest of your org is. So when I say “nobody,” I’m empathizing with the exasperation you feel when the fruits of your labor die on the vine.
What’s underlying these undesirable outcomes?
Often, the list above is a chain reaction.
Like this:
• Nobody understands it — therefore — nobody remembers it — therefore — nobody follows it
Or like this:
• Nobody follows it — because — nobody remembers it — because — nobody understands it
These effects have causes that are shared and compounded:
Let’s break these down.
Why can’t people understand what you’re saying? Excluding a language barrier, I can think of six reasons.
If they don’t know what it means, it’s never going to be meaningful.
If your articulation starts an argument, it’s time to start over.
Research by Rungway, an employee engagement platform, shows that 52% of employees can’t recite their organization’s vision. And 49% can’t recite company values.
If they don’t understand what you’re saying, there’s only so much mental energy they’ll expend on it before their brain sees it as a waste and dismisses it. And if it’s irrelevant to them personally, why bother remembering it? They’ll see it as something only useful for the higher ups.
Of course you can help them with reminders. But many of us don’t. At least not to the degree we could or should. Remember, strategy is loooong-term. It should be good for at least 5 years out, as best you can see. Which means — coming back around to my point — that you should be reminding people about it for five. Freaking. Years. All day, every day.
A lot of us can’t even maintain that kind of discipline in social media. Yet that’s what it takes for the promise of your org strategy to be fulfilled. If you let up, you’re going to be let down.
As Patrick Lencioni says, a leader must be a Chief Reminding Officer.
“The best leaders understand that they are CROs (Chief Reminding Officers), and that there is no such thing as too much communication.”
— Patrick Lencioni
People won’t support your org strategy if they don’t understand it. And they sure can’t support it if they don’t remember it.
Even if you remind them, they might still not support it if it makes no sense to them, or if they don’t see how they’re connected to it.
Gallup research shows that just 23% of U.S. employees strongly agree that they can apply their organization’s values to their work every day.
But let’s say they “get” your strategy, and they can remember it. Great! You still have to hold them accountable for it. How? Ask yourself the following questions.
Does every employee know how they play a part?
Strategy can’t be just for management. Every employee, top to bottom, has to be rowing in the same direction. Even the janitor. For example: “Our custodial staff keeps the environment pleasant and complaint-proof, so that employees aren’t distracted, don’t spread grievances, and enjoy their workspace. This contributes to a come-to-work enthusiasm that’s channeled toward our goal of [fill in the blank].” See?
Is your strategy also part of your new-hire screening process?
As I like to say, the best way to imbue your values in people is to hire people that already have those values in the first place. So assess your potential hires accordingly. Ask behavioral questions that are tied to your belief and values and standards.
The best way to imbue your values in people is to hire people that already have those values in the first place.
Are your values, standards, and success criteria integral to your performance reviews?
This is a good test of the viability of your principles. Do they work in performance reviews? If you can’t measure them, how can you ensure them? Values and standards should take center stage in your employee evaluation form. Is every employee exemplifying and upholding them? They must. Or bust.
Are your department and individual goals tied to them?
Same goes for the department level. Every team should be responsible for helping move the ball forward. You can tell them how. Even better, let them tell you how.
Does your org strategy get budget support?
Do you put your money where your mouth is? You should back your principles with bucks. As they say, a principle isn’t a principle until it costs you money. For example, at Counterpart, one of our keys to success is Nonstop Learning. This means that every year we allocate dollars for training. Plus we maintain a default inclination to say yes when employees want to learn new skills, buy a book, or take courses. We also encourage each employee to share what they learn with everybody else — through emails or regular Grub ‘n’ Grow lunches — so we all get smarter.
You’re smart enough to see the “how” in everything in above. But here’s a summary. A successful org strategy is:
• Relevant and connected to every employee.
• Written in language that’s impactful, sincere, and “real.”
• Supported by constant reminders.
• Directly tied to new-hire assessments, individual performance evaluations, and departmental goals.
• Has the power of the budget behind it.
Further reading: If you want your strategy to be understood, remembered, and followed, learn about The sticky 6: Things that make an org strategy take hold.
Here’s something that will help: my Single Slide Strategy® framework. Its graphic and ordered structure is designed to make all the ideas connect and flow. Done correctly, it speaks to everything important without saying everything important. It opens all the right doors, so you can ensure simplicity, yet provide for necessary depth.
Of course, you can use whatever framework you want, but you still have to put the right words in there. After all, your org strategy is a message — to your coworkers, stakeholders, industry, and the world. Accordingly, it should manifest The 4 things that make a message work™. And avoid The 4 ways your message works against you™.
(Consider expert help from the Message Strategy Experts®. It can take a big burden off your shoulders.)
Not sure which way to go? Message me and I’ll try to point you in the right direction. Which is far, far away from failure.
