3 Ways To Execute Competitive Advantage Strategic Planning

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There has been a lot of research published lately by the Harvard Business Review that deals with the breakdown between strategy and execution

. One of the findings has been that of all strategic initiatives implemented by businesses, only 30 percent of them are actually successfully executed. Additionally, of those that are executed, the CEO's of those companies view the process as too slow. The most common approach to transition a new strategic initiative into execution mode is to adapt new technology or by creating new processes. If this is the current paradigm of execution it is clear that the latest research shows it to be ineffective. Therefore, we must create a paradigm shift that will enable the execution of strategic planning to achieve the desired end state.

To create this paradigm shift to success we must examine three U.S. Marine Corps principles; Commanders Intent, Mission Statement, and Concept of Operations. These three principles translate into; a clear strategy, unity of effort, and adaptability. By thinking like a Commanding Officer and applying these principles in conjunction with the fundamentals of leadership, your strategy will be effectively and efficiently executed while your business is rapidly overtaking your competition.

The commanders intent is the broad outline for achieving your desired endstate. It should be relatively short and easily communicated and understood. It is descriptive of your strategic initiative, and although it defines and endstate, it does not specifically detail each and every specific action required for execution. The critical aspect is that is created clarity and a deep understanding of the ultimate goal. It is the catalyst that sparks organizational buy-in and commitment to its success.

The next component is a clear and actionable mission statement. A primary goal of the mission statement is to create unity of effort in support of the commander's intent. No matter how badly as you want it to, the mission statement does not describe the how of the strategy. It simply states the 5 W's; who, what, where, when and why. The why is the most important. In order to effectively execute a strategy, the why must be clearly explained in no uncertain terms.

Lastly, we finally arrive at the how of the strategy. The concept of operations is used to explain how the commanders intent and the mission will be achieved. This is often the hardest part of creating a plan, but not because you have to consider every detailed step of the process. It is hard because in the concept of operations you must task your subordinates to consider the details of execution while still leaving them enough room to adapt quickly and maneuver appropriate to ever changing situations. Yes, it is essential for execution that you do not refine every minute detail of the operation. Instead, you must create a scheme of maneuver that will support the mission statement and commander's intent and allow for flexibility and lower level decision making throughout the execution phase.

The effectiveness of this process is that no plan, no matter how detailed, will be executed perfectly. This is because it is impossible to account in the planning process for the complexity of an uncertain and dynamic environment. Instead, it is critical to create the clear understanding of the intent and the mission that will allow those executing to have the flexibility they will need. When those executing the strategy take ownership of the intent of the strategy and fully get behind it, it will ultimately succeed because they will take the actions required to succeed.

Those actions are not generated by force, but by the clarity and adaptability of the strategy combined with the unity of effort of your team. When you want to implement a strategic plan, and control the direction that your business is going, this is the best way to do it. If it works for the Marine Corps in the uncertainly of combat it will most certainly work for you.

by: Eric Frey

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