Introduction
Today, almost every company faces severe strategic problems. The main path to value creation has yet to be fully understood. Problems that arise in organizational development result from how most companies are managed.
An unnecessary and significant gap exists between strategy and execution. It compiles with a need for more connection between what the enterprise aims to achieve and what it can achieve. Many leaders today understand this problem, but only some know how to overcome it. Also, many business leaders are trying to close the strategy gap and look for a better position in the market. Analyzing the part “Five Acts of Unconventional Leadership” of the book Strategy That Works by Leinwand and Mainardi, the most complicated act to follow is cutting costs to become stronger, and the quickest opportunities for execution are the preservation of identity and the transformation of the strategy into everyday practice.
Critical Question: Analysis of Reading
The most critical question from reading “The Most Strategy-to-Execution Gap” is how companies consciously moved to develop capabilities that were specific to their business. That is, what methods they used to achieve their goals. What is interesting is that almost all methods were different, even for companies with identical goals and methods. The described companies were not guided by conventional wisdom or template standards that would force managers to focus on the search for profit, which seems most accessible. However, these companies mainly focused their efforts on development in those areas where they have the necessary tools to fight against competitors (Leinwand & Mainardi, 2016).
The best way to develop capabilities is to adopt industry best practices or create functional excellence. However, the article’s analyzed content shows that companies develop and create capabilities that distinguish them from other companies. Such a strategy aims to solve performance problems by rethinking incentives and restructuring the organizational chart, but this is not enough.
Company managers recognize the power of their culture and drive productivity by leveraging their cultural strengths. Nor do they cut costs, making savings everywhere by spreading their investments across many promising opportunities, as many companies do. The most relevant strategy is the division of resources, doubling the most essential capabilities for long-term value. Such activity is awe-inspiring and inspires other competitors to change.
Aspects of the Five Acts and the Quickest Opportunity for Execution
There are two aspects, such as maintaining core identity and integrating strategy into daily operations, of the Five Acts that might offer the quickest opportunities for execution. Companies only become effective and coherent when they make choices about who they are. They thus develop a value proposition that differentiates them from other companies and identify several capabilities that will enable them to achieve this path to play more effectively than anyone else (Leinwand & Mainardi, 2016). Staying true to your identity is the fastest way to do it because it doesn’t require the involvement of resources or people. This aspect does not mean becoming complacent or losing the ability to change.
This factor is essential to use all existing strengths as a guide when moving in a rapidly changing world. As a company becomes more consistent, it abandons products, services, or businesses that no longer fit. A major expansion is only going to enterprise markets where your most distinctive capabilities apply.
Another aspect that is the fastest to implement is transforming the strategy into everyday practice. In this factor, it is essential to resist existing practices by involving thinking and talking in a new way, that is, by transforming the existing one that does not require the involvement of additional elements; therefore, it is easy and quick to perform. While fostering excellent cross-functional skills in routine behavior within a global enterprise, the company develops a specific culture that fosters alignment and collective excellence.
The Aspect of the Five Acts Might be the Most Daunting and Challenging to Execute
The most difficult of the five aspects is cutting costs to become stronger. Companies that bridge the gap between execution and strategy spend more than their competitors on the most critical elements. The aspect is complex because cost management is a way to make critical choices about identity and direction. However, this approach helps the organization reach a higher level of financial discipline by directing resources from projects to core opportunities that impact the organization’s bottom line.
In favorable times for business, managers refrain from wasting their investments by betting on dozens of new projects. However, they determine the areas in which the company is likely to succeed, which is a complex process since investments must be directed in the right direction to avoid losses. In difficult times, the organization, with the help of this aspect, completely stops spending money or cuts costs on all orders. The difficulty is that managers must find ways to double down on their strategic priorities and cut other non-strategically significant costs.
Conclusion
Overall, the analyzed article shows that the most difficult act in the organization’s management is to cut costs to become stronger. The fastest opportunities to perform are to preserve the identity and transform the strategy into everyday practice. The five-act fundamentals analyzed are not the only path to company success; they bridge the gap between strategy and execution.
All of the other strategies provide different long-term sustainable success. This path is also attractive, and even if you take a few steps to change, you can improve the efficiency and morale of the company. Thus, managers must be discerning and decisive and choose only those opportunities and options corresponding to the strategy.
Reference
Leinwand, P., & Mainardi, C. R. (2016). Overcoming the strategy-to-execution gap. In Strategy that works : How winning companies close the strategy-to-execution gap. Harvard Business Review Press.