My Strategy Implementation Journey

Antonio Nieto-Rodriguez from the Strategy Implementation Institute highlighted the fact that the greatest amount of learning occurs in our infancy. And while that may be the case, I’ve always been a firm believer that learning is not an event but a continuous journey that does not end at the school gates. As such, I embarked on my own journey over the past 5 years to gain industry recognised credentials in agile, portfolio, programme, project and service management but particularly in the specialisations offered by APMG International in Better Business Cases and Managing Benefits. 

With the invaluable knowledge gained from the latter two guides, I was always intrigued how real-life organisational strategies that underpin strategy implementation through programmes and projects, always seem to zoom out to the big picture but fail to zoom into the specifics needed to achieve it. That is, the clear line of sight between the strategic case and benefits realisation in practice. This is what ought to be the capital investment rationale for starting any programme or project using finite organisational resources in funds and people.

What I have learnt from undertaking the Strategy Implementation course is that digital strategy design and strategy implementation through programmes and projects should never be separated if organisations are to achieve their intended benefits. As successful strategy implementation requires some level of business model change to existing processes, organisational structures, technology and/or information to improve ways of working from existing practices. The extent of change maybe minor or more significant but what’s important is for leaders to continually communicate how employees will individually contribute to strategy execution. It’s about leaders stepping up to craft the strategy while employees are empowered to implement it. 

Interestingly, Francisco Gonzalez (Executive Chairperson at BBVA Digital Bank in Columbia) once said “Most organisations look only at the rooftop in terms of competitive advantage - the products and services that customers see” which is typical of traditional strategies (e.g. think Blockbuster). The problem is if you only build the rooftop, and don’t change the business model structure underneath, the whole building becomes unstable” and susceptible to digital disruption. This is why transformative organisations (e.g. think Netflix) focus on projects as ecosystems and platforms to provide customers solutions to problems, not products.

What the strategy implementation course offers is a holistic guidance on how to improve successful digital strategy implementation based on life real experience, examples and empirical evidence. Unlike other online delivered courses, it is both interactive and participatory. It requires people to iteratively communicate what they learnt and to reinforce that learning over the ‘magic of 90 days’ to take action and complete the course. So, just like strategy execution, if you don’t put in the time and effort then you won’t achieve the intended results. 

Taking a future-back approach to learning, what I find particularly useful is to undertake the sample exam paper (available through the APMG candidate portal) prior to undertaking the course, both as an indication of knowledge but also to focus my learning and study. Like with strategy implementation, it’s about determining the delta or the gap between the desired future state rather than vice versa. Another useful tip is to progressively capture any key notes electronically in a word document using the strategy implementation roadmap seven components and their stages as headings to guide exam preparation.