{"id":38500,"date":"2024-06-11T14:15:46","date_gmt":"2024-06-11T13:15:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.turner.nl\/uncategorized\/nothing-as-practical-as-a-good-model\/"},"modified":"2025-08-11T12:06:17","modified_gmt":"2025-08-11T10:06:17","slug":"nothing-as-practical-as-a-good-model","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.turner.nl\/en\/blog-en\/nothing-as-practical-as-a-good-model\/","title":{"rendered":"Nothing as practical as a good model"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Strategy execution is a business process like any other.<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Nothing as practical as a good model.<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Especially for strategy execution.<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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No manna from heaven<\/strong><\/h1>

Everyone is trained to think in business processes: sales, logistics, delivery, service, administration, management and human resource processes. But when it comes to strategy execution, this thinking suddenly seems not to apply, as if strategy execution can be taken for granted and will fall from the sky like manna from heaven. Yet strategy execution is just another business process, which needs to be described and implemented like any other. My publication Strategy = Execution contains a model that is a great basis for this.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Single Language<\/strong><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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We execute strategy in an ever more complex and volatile world. Using a single method and a single language for strategy execution creates the time and flexibility to deal with our rapidly changing world. Taking a systematic approach and making sure you know which phase an initiative is in helps to successfully complete that phase and the whole initiative. This is true not only during analysis, but also during execution.<\/p>

At one point, I helped a senior manager at a large insurance company to create a single method and language for strategy execution. Speaking about the use of a phased or step-by-step model, he said: \u201cAt any given moment, each initiative will be in a different phase from all the others. But every one of them has to go through every phase. In the heat of the moment, we often don\u2019t know what phase a particular initiative is in. And when it gets stuck or fails to deliver, we\u2019re surprised. But that\u2019s because we keep stepping into the classic pitfall of only approaching our initiatives systematically while we\u2019re defining them. When we most need to be systematic, during execution, our minds tend to be elsewhere.\u201d<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Framework Wanted<\/strong><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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At the end of the day, every leader I\u2019ve ever met wants a practical framework. And they\u2019ve got a point, because everyone benefits from a good model. It helps everyone speak the same language, helps them read from the same page. And a process model or framework also provides a peg from which to hang best practices, so we can convert generic steps into concrete actions.<\/p>\n

Thinking in accelerators, stages, phases or steps\u2014whatever you prefer to call them\u2014helps you realize what needs to be done.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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The Strategy = Execution Model: 4 Accelerators and 16 Building Blocks<\/strong><\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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From my research results, I was able to distill four accelerators of strategy execution. Together, these key elements form a framework that shows you how to execute your strategy. This is the Strategy = Execution Model.<\/p>\n

The first accelerator\u2014CHOOSE\u2014applies to the organization-wide process of setting the overall strategy while the other three\u2014INITIATE, HARVEST and SECURE\u2014are intended for executing strategic initiatives such as programs and projects. Each accelerator consists of four how-to building blocks, two of which deal with your organization\u2019s hard capabilities, and two with its soft capabilities.<\/p>\n

The top row of hard building blocks deals with goals and benefits, or the why<\/strong>. The next row of hard building blocks refers to the contents of the strategy and the portfolio of initiatives, or the what<\/strong>. The top row of soft building blocks is about the execution and change strategies, or the how<\/strong>. The second row of soft building blocks is about ownership of the initiative and the desired benefits, or the who<\/strong>. Altogether, the accelerators and building blocks are the how-to for the future. In that sense, they are \u201cfuture practices\u201d rather than best practices.<\/p>\n

Working in projects and programs is a must. It is an indispensable skill and a core competency for most strategy execution initiatives. See the figure below for the Strategy Execution Model.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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