CEO — Nothing Changed This Quarter. You Just Said It Did

Read time: 2.5 minutes

6 Moves That Turn Strategy Into Visible Change

1. You were not changing the quarter; you were merely giving it a new label.

• New goals do not create new behaviors.

• Clear messaging does not create movement.

Observations:
If all of the execution looks the same, then nothing has changed.

2. If people cannot see the change, it has not occurred

• Invisible change does not scale.

• Subtle change does not remain.

Shift:
Make change visible and immediate.

3. The outcome of an initiative with new goals will always exhibit the same outcome as before if the system remains the same

• New Goals

• Same meetings

• Same behaviours

Outcome:
The system is more powerful than the strategy.

4. Organizations are guided by the signals of their leaders, rather than by the strategies they create

• How leaders communicate their message is not as important as how they enforce it.

• Anything that is allowed to happen becomes normal.

Truth:
What You Allow, You Will Have .

5. Stop Making Announcements and Start Making Signals

• The strategy should be reflected in the changes that occur daily.

Action:
Make the changes completely unmissable.

6. Make changes immediately in three areas

• Eliminate one visible priority from the organization.

• Eliminate one recurring organization's meeting.

• Change one metric that is widely reported on a regular basis.

Rule:
If people are not aware of something on day one, it has not made an impact.

💡Key Takeaway: 

Strategy fails because of execution issues, not because of bad thinking.