Strategy & Organizational Culture

The biggest challenge that most organizations face is not developing a strategy, but rather the execution and/or implementation of it. You might recognize this:

• Your organization needs to innovate in order to keep up with the competition
• Your organization needs to pivot; find new clients, boost sales, etc.
• You want your organization to grow
• You started a partnership or a merger with another organization, and now the organizations need to work together effectively

If you do recognize any or all of the above, you might have even written down a strategy to do so. But getting your people, and yourself, to take action in such a way that everyone knows, understands, and stays motivated to achieve the new set of objectives is the hardest part.

Implementing a strategy fails 85% of the time.

We can reduce this to 15% (15% of organizational strategy implementation is due to environmental circumstances like local legislation and global economic development).

How do we do this?

The easiest way to describe this is to use an analogy with a navigation system and you (and your organization) wanting to get from A to B. Getting from A to B using a navigation system is easy. But (!) it’s only easy if you know where you are at the starting point; the A.

If you don’t know where you are now, getting to B is virtually impossible, and you will end up like Alice in Wonderland asking direction from the cat, who answered “if you don’t know where you’re going, any direction will do”. Unfortunately, most organizations do not know their A.

They know their B, but not their A, and hence getting from where they are to where they want to be, becomes a trial-and-error effort. What you need is to know where your organization is at this moment.

Only then it makes sense to map out a strategic route to get to where you want to be. Measuring where your organization stands at this moment massively increases your chances to get to where you want to be. Plus, by measuring where you are you can better manage (read: steer, control costs, and motivate) your actions, your interventions, and your people to achieve your organization’s objectives.

The Culture Matters Organizational Development Tool ©

Asking your people, including you, using a validated measuring instrument gives you the exact information about your “Now” situation.

How does it work?

• The Culture Matters ODT © is done online
• Different functional groups, like Marketing, Management, and Sales can be identified, giving you insight, and overview of your whole organization
• Sample groups or your complete organization can be measured
• It’s fast, functional, and very cost-effective
• The outcome is objective, neutral and indispensable
• Measurements can be repeated over time to establish strategy & change implementation, so you keep track of your progress in the most effective way

Your people feel and know that they’re involved in the strategy implementation and change process. This will keep them motivated and engaged.

Adding Value

Together with Culture Matters, you interpret the data. The ODT will give you clear and concise insights on where best to start your first interventions for your strategy change, and which ones to avoid. In other words, the trial-and-error aspect of implementation is eliminated. Giving you the benefit of staying on target, controlling your costs, energy, and efforts, and keep your people motivated. You decide which actions to take next, knowing you’ll stay right on target. This very cost-effective way of measuring will also assure you that you will not be stuck with a consultant (us) forever and ever. You run your organization, we only help you get in the right direction. Most organizations never have the time or money to do it right the first time, but they always have the time and money to try the next thing (?). Will you get it right this time?

If you’re looking for added value, what are the three things you would like to improve about your organizational culture?

Let’s Work Together. Get in Touch

If you want to read more on strategy and culture, read this article.

Read here why cultural competence is crucial in an international environment.