Bridging Strategy & Execution

Bridging Strategy & Execution

Most organizations craft a mission statement to define their purpose. Most also have something called strategy.

What is strategy?

There are many definitions of strategy! We see it as the unique approach an organization takes to achieve its mission.

Think of 23andMe, which brings DNA testing directly to customers rather than making them go through hospitals or doctors. Or Tesla, which created a high-end Roadster before creating a more affordable Model 3. If these companies had chosen a different strategy, they would have prioritized different goals and actions.

The future is hard to predict. Strategy is just a theory about what approach will work best. As you learn by doing, or as the industry or environment changes, your strategy may change. But it always points toward the mission.

By itself, strategy isn’t enough to lead teams to success. No matter how smart the strategy seems on paper, your team still must execute it – or it’s like a bicycle without wheels.

As John says, “Ideas are easy. Execution is everything.”

For small teams where everyone fits around a table, turning strategy into action is a quick discussion. Disagreements about strategy or implementation quickly surface. Solutions are found while you’re all in the same room. But, as you outgrow the table, it gets harder to stay in sync.

It’s common to have differing interpretations of strategy, which lead to different teams making different action plans. Pretty soon, everyone is going in different directions.

Before you know it, there are countless projects. Everybody is busy, and everybody has their own plan!

Strategy and OKRs

Project plans are great for keeping people aligned on projects. But what guarantees that projects are aligned with the overall strategy? That’s where OKRs shine.

OKRs clarify the direction we all need to go in. They rally teams around a shared definition of success.

To quickly recap:

• You achieve your mission through a set of strategies.
• In each cycle, you decide which parts of the strategy you’ll focus on above all else.
• You need to define how you will know the strategy is working.

From there, you are ready to craft your OKRs.