Strategy, Usually Not What We Plan.

We recently purchased a home that requires a total makeover. It is a DIY’ers dream. Eager to get started, we got clear on our vision, made our plans, and jumped in. Task 1: In 6 weeks, remove 1600 sq. ft. of tile, carpet, and hardwood and install some great-looking LVP. We’re just rounding week 8 and are at least a month from done. Long story short, the old flooring was reluctant to leave. During this slowdown, we realized that demo’ing a half-wall that separated two areas would greatly improve our space for entertaining. This change could not have been implemented after the new floors were in.

We made plans. Some of them worked, some of them did not. In the midst of success and failure, new plans emerged that increased the value of the vision. That’s just like strategy implementation in organizational life. Many leaders will be familiar with Mintzberg’s helpful picture of emerging strategy (https://bit.ly/3c3lTue). In short, when we plan seriously and implement intentionally, we’ll find that three things happen: The success of the planned, the failure of the planned, and the emergence of the unplanned. These are always part of the strategy journey. If you take time to prepare your team for this inevitable reality, momentum loss will be less likely when the first setback comes.

First published at: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/devonmberry_we-recently-purchased-a-home-that-requires-activity-6804597808386179073-QCu8