MHC believes in the crucial role of bold, focused and simple strategies and we have the skills and experience to design them. If you need help with this, or any other related service, please get in touch.
The key to organisational success lies in having a clear, focused purpose and streamlined strategic initiatives, while effectively managing stakeholder pressures and balancing innovation.
Once you start implementing your focused, simple, clear strategy, stick with it. Be disciplined. Remember the Brightline Initiative Principle: Check ongoing initiatives before committing to new ones and your implementation will be so much more likely to be successful.
Five years ago you signed off on your new five-year strategy, brimming with optimism that it would take your organisation to even greater heights of success.
It’s now time to account for how well you performed against your strategy – and a sinking feeling tells you it isn’t looking good. At best, your performance is unclear. At worst? Your organisation is travelling much the same way as it was five years ago.
So, why this result?
One reason might be that your strategy constrained your organisation by confusing your purpose and over-complicating what you wanted to achieve. This might be your problem if you often hear people in your organisation say
A strategy that is unclear, or too complex, is difficult to implement and unlikely to be successful.
An organisation needs a purpose that is relevant, achievable and understandable. A purpose that all staff and their wider network of associates, friends and family can understand. It is the heart and soul of an organisation.
Allegedly, Steve Jobs described Apple’s purpose in two sentences when he was only 22. In 1977, when people who used computers accessed them in laboratories where they shared them with others, he said something like “Our whole company is founded on the principle that there is something very different that happens with one person, one computer … What we’re trying to do is remove the barrier of having to learn to use a computer.”
In the public service where portfolios can be complex, a good example is Service NSW:
“Service NSW makes it easier to access government services for people and businesses across NSW. We’re the NSW government agency where you can apply for a licence, get a permit, register a birth, pay most fines and more.”
A clearly articulated purpose provides the foundation for the strategic initiatives of an organisation.
A clear, focused purpose is the starting point to develop strategic initiatives that can be implemented.
During strategic planning is a good time to recalibrate and test the truth in the stated and realised organisation purpose.
This can be done by drawing on multiple strands of evidence such as:
Recent research has demonstrated the importance of focusing on the purpose of an initiative for a successful implementation.
The excellent report by McKinsey Centre for Government “Delivering for citizens: How to triple the success rate of government transformations” surveyed nearly 3000 public officials across 18 countries and found about 80% of government efforts to transform performance didn’t fully meet their objectives.
A common key feature of a successful initiative was having clear purpose and priorities.
The report said “In setting objectives, less is more: successful efforts keep targets few, specific and outcome based.”
They gave the example of a successful educational transformation in Columbia that had four targets focused on increasing enrolment in both school and university, conducting evaluations, and improving information systems.
Here at MHC, we find two common challenges when designing strategies for government and non-government organisations. Both must be overcome to develop focused strategic initiatives.