Seven Rules To Close The Strategy To Execution Gap

According to the consultants at Marakon, companies typically realize only about 60% of their strategies’ potential value because of defects and breakdowns in planning and execution. Yet, by following seven simple rules, you can get a lot more than that.

Marakon found that the processes companies use to develop plans and monitor performance make it difficult to discern whether the strategy-to-performance gap stems from poor planning, poor execution, both, or neither.

Here's what they found:

• Companies rarely track performance against long-term plans.
• Multi-year results rarely meet projections.
• A lot of value is lost in translation.
• Performance bottlenecks are frequently invisible to top management.
• The strategy-to-performance gap fosters a culture of underperformance.

To help close the strategy-to-execution gap, Marakon recommends the following seven steps:

1. Keep it simple, make it concrete.
2. Debate assumptions, not forecasts.
3. Use a rigorous framework, speak a common language.
4. Discuss resource deployments early.
5. Clearly identify priorities.
6. Continuously monitor performance.
7. Reward and develop execution capabilities.