Big Ideas and Big Bets
Many companies today are making big bets on big ideas; that is, large investments to drive meaningful change and growth strategies. This strategy change could be a new product, a new message, new branding, new market, or even an acquisition.
I’ve worked recently with a company launching a complex new product; another blending sales organizations; another seeking to penetrate deeper levels of their customer organizations.
Many of the best corporate initiatives never get fully operationalized and turned into successful execution at the field level. In fact, research says 70% of strategies fail.
We find it helpful for organizations to really think through 3 questions: the “what,” the “why,” and the “how.”
- The “What” is about the changes you are making to drive future growth.
- The “Why” is the specific business reasons you are making those changes in the first place.
- The “How” is focused on the practical ways in which you will enable your sales channels to implement your strategy.
The challenge is balancing the tradeoff between investment in sales enablement and the effectiveness of implementing change in the organization. Not an easy task. But quite doable with careful consideration, planning, and rollout across the troops and managers with right tools, training and guidance.
How’s your strategy implementation?
