Lots of conversations and meetings are in progress as people throughout the organization distill the overarching business goals into division, department, and team objectives.
All good stuff, sort of, unless your priorities to drive this strategy resemble an overstuffed closet full of clothes.
Strategic priorities, objectives and targets are essential elements of strategy. Yet this post was triggered because many of the conversations now are about doubling down on what must be done in the new year and little attention shown to what a team or department is not going to do, to make room (and resources) for the new things to come.
It only makes sense that if you add new priorities to this year’s strategic agenda, you need conversations about what you are going to say no to. If you don’t, soon you’ll find yourself in the situation with too many priorities or that everything is a priority. Of course, this means nothing is a priority.
More is not always better. Adding new initiatives to your strategic agenda before having the difficult conversations about what to take out, can lead to an overstuffed strategy closet that does not perform.
Good people do not stick around if the strategy that they work hard for does not deliver.
Keep your closet (and your strategy) light enough so that you can fulfil your promises, to your people and to your customers.
How do you ensure that you do not overstuff your “strategy closet”?
Cluttered Closet Image by Queen Keene