WhatTheyThink

Premium Commentary & Analysis

Bridging Strategy to Execution: How to Implement the Three Cs

Studies have shown that as many as 90% of well-formulated strategies fail due to poor execution. These are epic failure rates that, but for a plan to bridge strategy to tactical execution, could instead be sustainable successes. Why then do leadership teams continue to endure poor execution? Admitting that there is a problem is a good first step, followed by a decision to do something about it.

Wednesday, March 10, 2021

Imperfection in strategic planning and execution is common. Implementing simple fixes to generate desired outcomes is surprisingly uncommon. 

Studies have shown that as many as 90% of well-formulated strategies fail due to poor execution. These are epic failure rates that, but for a plan to bridge strategy to tactical execution, could instead be sustainable successes. Why then do leadership teams continue to endure poor execution? Admitting that there is a problem is a good first step, followed by a decision to do something about it. However, the start is what stops most people. 

My experience with strategic planning and execution within medium and large organizations echoes the poor execution performance statistics. Early in my executive career, I began to discover signs indicative of meager execution. Here are a few (of many) common warning signs that strategy execution is lacking.


Continue reading your article
with a WhatTheyThink membership.

WhatTheyThink Annual Membership

Less than $4/week.

Get unlimited access to in-depth commentary and analysis covering the latest trends, emerging technologies, operational strategies, and key events across every segment of today's printing industry.

Stay informed. Stay competitive. Stay ahead.
WhatTheyThink Day Pass

$5 for 24 hours

Unlimited access to all of WhatTheyThink. Get your Day Pass

Already a member?
Sign In

About Preston Herrin

Preston Herrin is a growth and performance consultant. He has enjoyed a successful leadership and executive management career spanning the manufacturing, e-commerce, software, and logistics sectors.

Recent Articles from Preston Herrin

Reanimating the Customer Experience: Take Radical Ownership of Outcomes

Reanimating the Customer Experience: Take Radical Ownership of Outcomes

The ultimate goal of customer experience management (CXM) is to establish greater customer stability and loyalty resulting in predictable, sustainable company growth. In every customer relationship there is a time when promises made must become promises kept. Preston Herrin explains how your entire team should be acutely focused on correctly establishing, measuring, and delivering on the customers’ expectations. Read More

Reanimating the Customer Experience: Like a Good Movie, Give Your Customers an Immersive Experience

Reanimating the Customer Experience: Like a Good Movie, Give Your Customers an Immersive Experience

Customers seek an immersive experience orchestrated by authentic people that consistently delivers. Do this well and you will build long-lasting, predictable customer relationships. Do this poorly and the discontinuity of an unpredictable experience will churn customers out of your portfolio. Contributor Preston Herrin evaluates two types of customer context: “New” and “Nurtured.” Read More

Cut Through the Chaos: How to Quantify Your Current Operating Reality

Cut Through the Chaos: How to Quantify Your Current Operating Reality

Today, change is happening at an unprecedented rate, and this hyper-change has become a new operating reality for businesses. Customer experience management has matured at the right time to be starkly relevant to business relationships navigating the pressures of hyper-change. Contributor Preston Herrin explains how to use a professionally designed Voice of the Customer survey to gather actionable information about your customers’ experience. Read More

Reanimate the Customer Experience

How do you evolve your business and imbue your culture with a customer-centric ethic that  actually modifies your organizational DNA? Preston Herrin offers four steps to becoming a customer-experience-driven company. Read More

Innovate Incessantly: From the Printing Press to a Streamlined Workflow, It’s All About Agility

Innovate Incessantly: From the Printing Press to a Streamlined Workflow, It’s All About Agility

The gap between early adopters and laggards continues to widen. Weighed down by the technical debt and disconnectedness of legacy systems, many print companies are investing precious capital and time in course-correcting their technology strategy. B2B customer expectations of user experience are increasingly blurred with the B2C ease of online shopping. Thus, the print service providers who can tightly align with emerging customer expectations will own the future. The answer to this growing problem is to establish a new agility within your operation. Read More