Turning strategy into results

Sull, D, Turconi, S, Sull, C and Yoder, J (2018) Turning strategy into results. MIT Sloan Management Review, 59 (3). pp. 1-12. ISSN 1532-9194

Abstract

This article is part of an MIT SMR series that explores how organizations can achieve their strategic objectives. Strategy is inherently complex. We see this in the thick reports and complex frameworks that companies use to describe their strategic choices and how they connect with one another. Describing a strategy favors complexity, but executing it requires simplicity. To influence day-today activities, strategies need to be simple enough for leaders at every level of the organization to understand, communicate, and remember -- a strategy that gathers dust on a shelf is nothing more than an expensive bookend. The act of codifying past choices into an explicit strategy, moreover, reinforces historical commitments and locks a company into inertia. Complex strategies, particularly those that include detailed plans, tend to be long on guidance but short on flexibility. Strategic priorities should be forward-looking and action-oriented and should focus attention on the handful of choices that matter most to the organization's success over the next few years.