Recently, the CEO of a potential new client shared a striking story. Her company grew rapidly, expanding from 50 to 200 employees in 18 months. While this growth seemed like pure success on paper, she noticed her once-cohesive team starting to fray at the edges. "We were chasing every request, targeting multiple new market segments, and saying yes to every partnership opportunity," she explained. "We were busy, but we weren't moving forward."
This scenario illustrates a common challenge in today's leadership landscape: losing strategic focus. While agility and quick response times are crucial, they can sometimes lead organizations astray, simultaneously transforming high-performing teams into scattered groups chasing too many objectives.
Let's explore three warning signs that your organization might be experiencing strategic drift, illustrated with real-world examples and practical solutions.
A mid-sized manufacturing company we worked with exhibited this first warning sign perfectly. Their management team had identified 12 "top priority" initiatives for the quarter, from implementing a new ERP system to expanding into three new international markets.
The symptoms were apparent:
While this flurry of activity might look like progress, it created the "Proliferation Paradox" - where increased strategic initiatives lead to decreased strategic impact. The company was spreading its resources so thin that even simple projects weren't getting completed effectively.
A direct-to-consumer company I advised last year demonstrated this second warning sign vividly. Once known for innovative customer experience solutions, their leadership team had become bogged down in circular debates and increasing tension.
The manifestations were striking:
What made this particularly concerning was how it affected their core business. A simple decision about updating their loyalty program took months longer than necessary because team members couldn't agree on the scope and priorities.
Perhaps the most alarming example comes from a technology consulting firm where top performers began showing subtle but significant signs of withdrawal. It wasn't that they were performing poorly - instead, they had stopped pushing boundaries and taking creative risks.
The warning signs were subtle but critical:
The most fundamental solution to strategic drift is having a well-defined strategic plan that serves as your organization's North Star. A large non-profit organization we worked with transformed its decision-making process by defining clear annual objectives for its three-year strategic milestones.
The key elements of their approach included:
Within six months of implementing this disciplined approach, they saw a 50% reduction in emerging "strategic" initiatives and a 75% increase in completion rates for approved projects. As their COE noted, "Having a strategic plan isn't enough - you need the discipline to use it as your decision-making compass."
Implementing a three-level strategic decision-making discipline is one of the most effective ways to maintain strategic focus. We use this discipline to phase and stage plan goals and objectives during the strategic planning process. After the plan is finalized, it is a bridge to reconnect the strategic thinking discussion during plan development with an evaluation of emerging issues to ensure leadership teams stay vision-driven and market-responsive.
Here's how this discipline works:
#1 Ask the most basic but crucial question, "Is this for us?"
Before diving into implementation details or resource allocation, leadership teams must evaluate new or emerging ideas against purpose and long-term success factors.
A clear mission, shared vision, and well-defined core values make this evaluation straightforward.
#2 Ask, "Does this change our current plans and priorities?"
Leadership teams must decide:
#3 Finally, ask: "Can we do this effectively, and will it provide meaningful returns?"
This level involves detailed planning:
This three-level framework is particularly powerful in preventing organizations from wasting resources on detailed planning for opportunities that should have been filtered out in early strategic alignment queries.
Many of our clients rave about this management discipline. One noted, "Before implementing this discipline, we spent countless hours planning initiatives that never should have made it past the first strategic question."
A pharmaceutical company developed an innovative approach to nurturing new opportunities without derailing its core business. They created what they called "Innovation Pods":
This system allowed them to explore new opportunities while maintaining focus on their core business. In its first year, this approach led to the integration of two successful product launches into the existing product pipeline without disrupting the deadlines for core product enhancements.
The key to implementing these solutions starts with having a robust strategic plan that serves as your decision-making compass. As one CEO put it, "Without a clear strategic plan, you're just managing tactics. With one, every decision becomes clearer."
Begin by assessing two critical elements in your organization:
If you're seeing any of the warning signs discussed earlier, start by strengthening these foundational elements. A strong strategic plan combined with disciplined decision-making creates the framework needed for your innovation greenhouse to thrive.
The foundation for maintaining strategic focus is having a clear strategic plan and the discipline to use it consistently in decision-making. Without this foundation, even the best frameworks and methods will fall short. As one CEO put it, "Our strategic plan isn't just a document we review annually - it's our core decision-making tool."
Remember, regaining and maintaining strategic focus is a journey that starts with a clear strategic plan and requires the discipline to use it consistently. While it demands vigilance and regular reassessment, the rewards - increased efficiency, higher team morale, and better performance - make it well worth the effort.
Learn more about the Strategic Decision Making Discipline.