The Two Sides of Every Organization

When most people look at their organizational charts they notice the hierarchical structure is divided by expertise or specializations into functional groups (or silos depending on the organizational culture). However, if you look more closely you will notice that there are two sides within every organization, regardless of industry or sector, consisting of ‘run the organization’ and ‘change the organization’. Similar to the ancient Chinese philosophy of yin and yang that denotes a concept of dualism, describing how seemingly dissonant forces such as ‘run the organization’ and ‘change the organization’ may actually be complementary, interconnected and interdependent.

This unique ecosystem should be viewed as a circle that arcs to create a continuous line that meets at two ends. That is, the unified effort towards the achievement of a new target business model that results in improved performance measures and efficiencies. A critical element that is applicable to both sides is the need to constantly align these two ends with organizational (including strategic investment) objectives and visions of a desired target state. It is only when both strategy and measurable benefits are realized, can these two connected points demonstrate a clear line of sight in terms of return on investment. That is, the optimal mix of costs, risks and benefits, or what ought to be the capital investment rationale for changing the organization and starting any programme or project using finite organizational resources of funds and people.

Generally speaking, strategy involves setting measurable organizational goals, determining actions to achieve those goals, and mobilizing available resources (people, assets, materials, funding and services) to execute those actions. A strategy ought to articulate how the ends (goals) will be achieved by the means (resources). So a good strategy provides a clear roadmap, consisting of a set of guiding principles or rules, that defines the actions people in the organization should start (and stop) doing, as well as the things they should prioritize (in terms of important versus urgent) to achieve desired objectives and key results. Where you start does not have to dictate where you finish.

The most significant step any organization can take to unlock strategy implementation capability and capacity is balancing the introduction of new strategic priorities and activities with clear direction on what the business must stop doing to maintain optimal customer service levels. While British rock band, Queen may have belted out “I want it all and I want it now", unfortunately you cannot have your cake and eat it too within financial and people talent constraints. It is therefore important to recognize the practice of addition and subtraction in resetting organizational priorities.

Although most organizations recognize the importance of making tough choices, few take seriously the added step of clarifying what they are not going to do at the start of a new strategy. This is a major reason why strategy execution and benefits realization in practice (or clear line of sight) often fail. The resource capacity that is released (and managerial focus that is enabled) is necessary to allow organizations to direct their full and undivided attention to the achievement of new strategic goals.

Donald Sull and Charles Sull promote that to drive successful strategy execution, organizational leaders should set goals that are FAST (Frequently discussed, Ambitious, Specific and Transparent) rather than SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time-Bound). Organizational goals can drive strategy execution but only when they are aligned with strategic priorities, account for critical logical (deliverables) and logistical (people) dependencies across business functional silos and enable course corrections as circumstances change, particularly in a digital environment. This is the reason why strategy implementation and culture should be regularly reviewed to ensure actions are manageable and progressive changes to unwanted behaviours actually improve ways of working and productivity.

However, to drive strategy execution organizational objectives must be clear to everyone and regularly communicated. An easy way to do this is to use a strategy map to harness employee potential. As such, organizational leaders at all levels – particularly middle management – must move beyond the conventional wisdom of SMART goals and their entrenched practices, to thinking in terms of being FAST. That is, having frequent discussions with their employees about goals with those implementing it, setting ambitious targets, translating them into specific metrics and milestones to hold people to account, and making them transparent for everyone to understand.

This side of the organization is typically funded by operational expenditure and commonly known as business as usual. Run the organization is typified by the normal execution of corporate business functions like HR, finance, customer services, corporate governance and risk including operational and asset maintenance of products and services. That is, the ongoing and unchanging state of affairs regardless of continuous service improvements. It forms a distinct contrast to portfolio, programme and project management which introduces transformational and business change to alter the organization, or part thereof. As such, it ought to assess the potential impact to operational service and take into consideration the organizational capacity and capability to successfully deliver and embed any new strategies.

Most importantly, run the organization must take care of measuring and reporting on the agreed forecast benefits to close the loop on the clear line of sight delivery of organizational (including strategic investment) objectives. Benefits management is typically undertaken throughout the project, programme and portfolio lifecycle and into operational service, and contrary to popular belief is not solely the domain of the capital investment decision-making process. The identification of benefits should happen before a project is even initiated by the change the organization side of the business, informed by a defined customer and business problem, strategy and/or policy. These benefits are then developed throughout the project lifecycle and then typically managed during project delivery and measured after the project has closed by the run the organisation part of the business.

Taking a different perspective, a key concept of Praxis is that the delineation between projects, programmes and portfolios is blurred. The premise being that the terms simply represent points in a continuum that is described by the complexity of the work being managed. This opposing side of the organization is influenced by the extent and uncertainty of scope. The volume of interrelationships (extent) and the degree to which we can understand those relationships (uncertainty) makes changing any business model complex.

These varying levels of complexity ought to be managed through structured portfolios that govern how programmes and projects are to be delivered, aligned to investment strategies for organizational consistency. It is the domain where strategy design (i.e. the playbook) and strategy delivery (i.e. the game itself) is quickly translated into action through integrated strategic, tactical and operational decisions. Changing the organization is fundamentally about purpose and keeping strategy design and strategy execution continually aligned. It’s about successfully articulating the ‘why”, defining the organization’s value proposition (hint: it’s not about profits) and inspiration to act. It is where leaders at all levels ensure the organization is investing behind the collective change and that the whole organization is motivated to follow through on successful strategy implementation through improved customer experience.

However, businesses that shift and transmogrify from traditional organizations (think Blockbuster) to transformative organisations (think Netflix) will be distinguished by the success of their digital strategy implementation and fast strategy cadence (i.e. between 18 months and 3 years). This ought to result in a flexible business model based around projects as ecosystems and platforms focused on customer solutions (not products or services), unprecedented industry collaboration and people collectively defined by purpose. Hence why, culture – particularly people’s unwanted behaviours – must change to enable successful digital strategy execution. There is a wonderful thing about technology, particularly in a digital environment. It changes everything!

When changing the organization, it’s important to recognize that resistance to change is often the achilles heel to successful strategy execution. This resistance is derived from employee motivation and morale which can either be productive or counterproductive. To keep employees motivated, organizational leaders at all levels must take ownership for changes to explain the burning platform or the ‘why’ to win the hearts and minds.

As such, the Strategy Implementation Institute advises leaders to create the right conditions and culture in the organization so that supporters, or those who welcome the change or transformation, can thrive. Instead of focusing on those who resist the new strategy implementation, organizations should instead grow the coalition of change agents or advocates to bring like-minded people together. The resulting network creates bilateral communication and establishes an ecosystem that encourages successful strategy implementation.

In essence, there are three things that leaders do concurrently that really make a difference. They set the vision, continually champion strategy execution and manage culture change. To be successful at digital strategy implementation, organizations need to also understand the delta between run the organization and change the organization to position themselves in front of ever-changing trends and how the business model needs to change. That is, agile and nimble organizational structures combined with fitter and flatter business models that enable faster strategy execution and response to digital disruption.

1. Dooley, A. (2014). Praxis Framework: An integrated guide to the management of projects, programmes and portfolios. Association of Project Management, Buckinghamshire
2. John Bellaimey (2013) The hidden meanings of yin and yang. Available here (accessed: 25/February/2021).
3. Sull, D. and Sull, C. (2018).  With Goals Fast Beats Smart. MIT Sloan Management Review. Available here.
4. Antonio-Nieto Rodriguez, A. & Speculand, R. (2021). Strategy Implementation Body of Knowledge. Strategy Implementation Institute, United Kingdom.
5. APMG International (2014). Managing Benefits by Steve Jenner, 2nd Edition. The Stationery Office, Norwich.