I watched two window designers set up shop windows in Munich last week.
The two merchandisers were attempting to hang large Christmas stockings on a makeshift fireplace, stuffed with their department store’s products in them.
It was funny to watch, because the stockings were so stuffed full of merchandise that they kept falling off their mounts, due to the heavy weight in the stockings.
The overstuffed Christmas stockings, unable to stay in their place on the fireplace, are a good reminder that business strategies will not stay in place that are “overstuffed” with too many initiatives and so-called priorities.
More is not always better. Adding new initiatives to your strategic agenda before having the difficult conversations about what to take out, leads to an overstuffed strategy that does not perform.
Good people do not stick around if the strategy that they work hard for does not deliver.
Keep your Christmas stockings (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 stockings”?
Photo Image by iStock #144719986