The value of a strategy is determined by the quality of the execution. The behavior of both leaders and employees is of decisive importance here. But for many entrepreneurs and executives this is uncharted territory, sometimes even murky waters. They do not go beyond the strategy feedback mode and do not pay enough attention to the behavioral changes needed to cope with the inevitable, unexpected events and changing circumstances during the execution process. In our view, strategy realization is the balanced management of two processes, strategy feedback and strategy feedforward, which both require different ways of influencing behavior.
Strategy feedback is about executing the strategy on the basis of well-defined objectives, targets, plans and performance indicators. In this process, the emphasis is on properly applying the organization’s existing control mechanisms and making it clear to employees that they are expected to act in the way as they would normally do, and how it has been laid down.
At strategy feedforward, we focus on giving space to respond in a different way to unexpected events and changing circumstances. To achieve the desired result in such situations, different behavior is required. Both processes impact each other and must therefore be managed in parallel.
The tone at the top is decisive here. We teach leaders to focus on employee behavior and engagement, rather than on “punishing” undesirable behavior, and develop their ability to act as a coach and role model. Our starting point is jointly drawing up effective rules of conduct. We also work on open communication lines between leaders and employees and introduce the right assessment and reward systems. This improves the effectiveness of behavior management.
We are open to discuss our ways in which we can help realizing the strategy that fits the characteristics of your organization, the goals you aim to achieve, and the context in which your organization operates.
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