This archive report was first published on 11 December 2019.
December 11, 2019, marked another five-year ritual for top management meetings, where executives gathered in a luxurious hotel to discuss business growth over the next five years.
However, research shows that only about 10% of strategies ever get implemented as envisioned. After these retreats, most employees and their managers return to business as usual, with many not even participating effectively in the strategy planning sessions.
Strategy has become a 'thing-we-do' rather than an important determinant of how we set direction and compete. Confronted with the lack of commitment to the strategy process, many employees retort that this is not the first strategy session they have attended and nothing has come of it.
So, why have we lost faith in the strategy development process? Could it be because strategy does not work? Should we shelve strategy and deal with whatever happens when it happens, or can we make strategy an integral part of our success?
