As I have always stressed, there are two distinct parts to strategy. There’s
strategy development and there is strategy implementation. They are two very
different things, but you can’t really have the one without the other.
It’s all very well for executives to sit in their plush offices and develop
strategic plans but those plans aren’t worth a can of beans if they are not carried
out. And of course, it is the rest of the organisation that does the carrying
out! In fact executives generally play little or no significant part in implementation.
That is why it is imperative that the strategy is effectively communicated
through all levels of the organisation. How else can you expect to achieve strategic
integrity – the perfect fusion of strategic planning and strategy
implementation?
Strategic integrity naturally necessitates consistent communication with a
constant message and behaviour that reinforces that message. Yet how often do
you find personal interests and short-term gains that run counter to this? And at
what cost? The fact is that if behaviour does not mirror intention you are
unable to avoid the tag of hypocrisy. Needless to say organisational hypocrisy
is lethal to strategic integrity. Why? Because non-aligned behaviour creates mixed
messages and mixed messages breed confusion and inconsistent behaviour, and
that inevitably erodes performance and the bottom-line.
Way back in my career, when working for a premier life insurance company, I
had the experience of a CEO stressing the need to cut costs. He even went so
far as to circulate a memo, under his own signature, that we could no longer
request – and Stationary could no longer purchase – pencils with erasers on the
end! Coinciding with the refurbishment of the executive suite at a cost of millions,
this did not go down well with employees and, with trust destroyed, the culture
collapsed and there was a mass exodus of the best people!
Unfortunately, it seems that lessons are never learned and that history repeats
itself, in all walks of life. Recently I have witnessed our local school “being
forced” to lay off teachers in order to cut costs. Yet it is spending a small
fortune on refurbishing a house on the property for the head teacher to move
into rent free; as well as paying for an overseas speaker to be the guest of
honour at the annual prize-giving. Unsurprisingly the question on everyone’s
lips is, “How many teachers is that?” The dichotomy is so great that it has
totally destroyed morale, and the hard-won school-pride, built over decades,
has been completely destroyed. Disengaged employees,teachers and staff, are all updating
and disseminating their CV’s and, instead of reducing costs, are spending wherever
they can without even bothering to “shop around” for better prices, with the idea
that they won’t be around for much longer.
So stop and consider what is going on in your organisation. Are you giving
out mixed messages? And, if so, do you have any idea of what the consequences
are?