Growth

Execute Strategic Initiative is Part 5 of a 6-part miniseries, discussing a step-by-step process to Identify, Develop, Execute and Operationalize Growth & Transformation Initiatives that further the Achievement of the business Corporate Strategy.

A step-by-step process to Identify, Develop, Execute and Operationalize Growth & Transformation Initiative that Furthers the Achievement of the business Corporate Strategy.

Previous Post Recap

I have to admit this has been quite an exciting journey thus far, especially if you’re a strategy nerd like myself. If you like Strategy,  Strategic Planning and Strategy Execution. In Parts 1 to 3,  we:

• Unpacking the business Corporate Strategy to extract Core Goals
• Interpreted the Core Goals to define Success Principles, which are word descriptions of what success is.
• Then, use these Success Principles to develop a Strategic Path forward and specific Corporate Goals for the business.

After, we proceeded to become highly uncomfortable in two ways:

• First, analyze the business’s current state to define Strategic gaps, and
• Secondly, we analyzed the business Limitations to define possible Strategic Initiatives, which are the Strategic Gaps the business is willing and able to execute

Part 4 shifted the focus from Strategic Initiative Planning to Project Management Planning. Check out this episode to find out what and why we recommended developing specific project management details before the business takes any action to find investors; and before the business takes any action to secure resources for the Project.

Execute Strategic Initiative Key Insights

We understand we cannot Project Manage a project on a post or video. Given our Strategic Initiative commitment is to provide insights to help businesses with their most dire problems. So instead of Project managing an S.I. Project on Video, we will highlight 6 key Project Execution insights leaders must be mindful of, the insights they must manage diligently with their project manager. 

Insights that that can make a significant difference between a Smoothly Run, Professionally Managed, Well-Controlled Project; and that of a Disorganized Project littered with Avoidable unwelcome Surprises.

These 6-Key Execute Strategic Initiative Insights are: 

1. 1: Get Commitment from the Project Execution Team
2. 2: Get Clarity on Project Deliverables
3. 3: Manage Risk & Deal Breakers
4. 4: Manage Project Cash Flow
5. 5: Manage Progress
6. 6: Manage Communication; Communication Channels are Open & functional 

For more detail on each Execute Strategic Initiative Insights:

Previous Episodes in this Miniseries:

If you missed Parts 1 -4 of this miniseries, the links are included below.

• Part 1: Strategic Initiative Part 1: What is Strategic Initiative?
• Part 2: Strategic Initiative Part 2: Clarify Corporate Strategy & Identify Strategic Gaps 
• Part 3: Strategic Initiative Part 3: Design, Evaluate and Select Strategic Initiative
• Part 4: Strategic Initiative Part 4: To Plan and Mobilize Strategic Initiatives

In conclusion

In conclusion, “Half of the problem is Not Knowing, Only Half! The other half is Execution”. I’m not sure what the original quote is. However, I love this version because it is relevant to Strategic Initiative Execution.

“Half of the problem is Not Knowing, only half! The other half is Execution.”

When issues occur, often the root cause is either “Not Knowing”- a lack of knowledge, lack of motivation to research, lack of curiosity to find out more – or “Execution”. In projects, the execution problem isn’t because of not acting but because of the lack of diligence in acting.

The video above discusses each of the 6 insights in detail, describing the insight, discussing why the insight is necessary and providing an action you can take to improve the diligence in the execution of your S.I. Project.

Be Strategic

Cheers!

The Strategic Initiative miniseries reached another pivotal point, the point in which the focus is now redirected from the Business Strategic Planning Team to the operators who will be responsible for the execution of any Strategic Initiative Project the business decides to pursue. 

We now shift the focus from the Corporate Strategy Team to the Operators of the business. The people responsible for the execution of the Business Strategic, Transformation projects.

Part 1 to Part 3 of this series dives into the activities necessary to develop the business Corporate Strategy Roadmap, plus the supporting details required to effectively execute the activities necessary to achieve the business Corporate Strategy.

Corporate Strategy Roadmap & Supporting information is relevant as long as the Corporate Strategy is unchanged. 

The S.I. Series Part 1 to Part 3 Saves Money and Time annually. The time saving spent on off-site workshops to unpack the business corporate strategy to re-envision the future of the business. We’re not saying that annual strategic planning isn’t important; it is. We’re saying that it is shortened due to having done the work properly, and comprehensively initially. Complete so it is reliable as long as the Corporate Strategy remains unchanged.

Part 4, this episode, To Plan and Mobilize Strategic Initiative, develop Strategic Initiative Project Management details required to:

1. Seek and Secure Investment funding that is right for your business, and
2. Source and Secure the Resources needed, as and when needed, to execute the S.I. project.

In this video, we discussed Strategic Initiatives and Project Management details that must be developed before seeking funding, and the details that must be prepared before attempting to secure the resources necessary to execute the S.I. Project. The Project Management details discussed, strictly from an S.I. perspective, are:

1. Project Description
2. Project Constraints
3. Project Risk & Deal Breakers
4. Project Milestones
5. Project Schedule & Timeline
6. Project Resource Schedule
7. Project Finance & Cash Flow
8. Project Communication Plan
9. Project Deployment Plan

While cautioning against making Expensive Mistakes, Strategic Mistakes, the mistake all organizations want to avoid, must avoid, as well as discussing 5 data points businesses seeking funding must develop before reaching out to investors. 

See the video for complete details.

Previous Episodes in this Miniseries:

If you missed Part 1 and Part 2 of this miniseries, the links are included below.

• Part 1: Strategic Initiative Part 1: What is Strategic Initiative?
• Part 2: Strategic Initiative Part 2: Clarify Corporate Strategy & Identify Strategic Gaps 
• Part 3: Strategic Initiative Part 3: Design, Evaluate and Select Strategic Initiative

Insights Corner- Strategic Initiative miniseries roadmap.

In this series, we end every episode with “Be Strategic!” – a reminder of our commitment to ensure that all our work promotes the achievement of your business Corporate Strategy.

Clarify Corporate Strategy & Identify Corporate Gaps

Strategic Initiative Part 2: Clarify Corporate Strategy and Identify Strategic Gaps, is Part 2 of a 6-part series to Identify, Develop, Execute and Operationalize the right initiatives to Grow & Transform businesses while furthering the achievement of the business Vision, Mission or Purpose.

This Strategic Initiatives Series is packed with Strategies, Tips, Processes, Insights, History Lessons, and Applications that can be tailored to your business. Getting through; Business Complexities, Interpretations and Unknowns that cloud & obstruct the business from achieving its Corporate Strategy; with control.

Part 1: How to Identify Strategic Initiatives

1. – Defined Strategic Initiatives
2. – Differentiated Strategic Initiatives from other special projects undertaken by the organization
3. – Introduced NMCS 7-Steps Strategic Initiatives Process

Part 2: Clarify Corporate Strategy and Identify Strategic Gaps

Part 2 of our Strategic Initiatives Series details Steps 1 and Step 2 of the NMCS Strategic Initiative Process.

Step 1: Clarify Corporate Strategy

“The purpose of Step 1 is to unpack the business corporate strategy, and through a series of progressive elaboration, identify success principles and corporate goals, that best serves the achievement of the business corporate strategy.”

We achieve this Purpose in 4 steps:

1. Context: We discussed the importance of having a Corporate Strategy the entire business can rally around, clarifying that even an informal version of a Corporate Strategy is better than not having any direction at all.
2. Strategy: Using Objectives to stay focused on your Goal, discussing how Objectives anchor you to what you want to accomplish when you get busy. The video states, “As we get busy, deep in the weeds of any project, without an anchor, it becomes easy and justifiable for us to be pulled into multiple conflicting directions. Having an Objective helps us to stay focused on what we are working toward and re-centres us when conflicting priorities arise.”
3. History: We then leverage our understanding of Apple’s history as a valuable teacher to discuss two Strategic Alignment Management Missteps and what Steve Jobs did to avoid these management missteps.
4. Execution: Then we discussed NMCS Strategic Alignment Process, diving into the 6-Step that methodically analyzes the Business’s Corporate Strategy to define corporate goals the entire team can rally around.

Step 2: Identify Strategic Gaps

The Purpose of Step two is to identify obstacles – Strategic Gaps – that prevents the business from being able to execute the activities necessary to achieve its Corporate Goals.

And to achieve this, we used a 5-Step process to analyze the business’s current state, its ideal state, and through a process of elimination, home in on Strategic Gaps.

See full details below:

Part 1: Strategic Initiative Part 1: What is Strategic Initiative? – NM Corporate Strategy