Only five percent (5%) understand the strategy

This is a shocking statistic. 

Some research was conducted into why many strategies seem well conceived but poorly executed. It concluded that whilst many organizations have some success with their strategy, almost nine out of ten organizations fail to fully implement their strategy as they had planned. The first figure in this research suggested that, of all the staff in the organizations involved, only five per cent of them understood the strategy. A different and more recent survey suggested that this figure was around eight per cent. I suspect the difference is not significant.

This limited understanding of strategy amongst its staff is an important issue for an organization. Even if the figures were out by a factor of ten, that means only half know what you are trying to achieve. If only one person in 20 understands your strategy (and presumably that one is executing the strategy) what opportunity are you missing with the other 19? It also raises the question, ‘Whose strategies are the other 19 executing?’.

It is not just a question of communication. It is also a question of trust. In a 2005 survey of 1,100 employees by Mercer Human Resource Consulting in the UK, just 36 per cent of workers trusted management ‘to always communicate honestly’. A similar survey of 800 US employees found that 40 per cent of respondents felt the same.

I suspect these figures also reflect different populations within the organization, and would vary with different levels of management and employee. Nonetheless, if you truly believe that your employees are a critical asset and fundamental to your success, can you afford to have so few of them trusting, understanding and helping you to implement your strategy?

This is why I believe this skill of communicating strategy, and socialising strategy, is so vital for Managers and Directors in all types of organisation, public sector and commercial.

Phil Jones
Author, Communicating Strategy

Why I wrote the book Communicating Strategy (Part 2)

This book started as a short e-book, but soon developed into this fuller book. Its working title was ‘Heads, hearts and hands’, which reflected the strategy being in the head, as a logically correct thing to do; being in the heart, as an emotional response and engagement; and being in the hands, so it is executed.

Part of the reason for the growth in the content was the need to explain the many practical ways in which the strategy is communicated. It is easy to say what should be done. It takes longer to explain how to do it, and I wanted the ‘how to do it’ in this book. I also wanted to provide people with options. There is no one way to communicate strategy well. This is a book of strategy communication tactics that people can pick from and choose as they see fit.

My work with clients has often involved coaching them in language and presentation techniques to help get the message across. Many of these techniques I have learnt in my training as a facilitator and presenter. Some
come from my training as a Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) master practitioner. However, I rarely tell my clients that they are using NLP techniques, preferring just to show people great ways to do things. Of course
if they ask, I tell them (and I have had several side conversations that go, ‘You are using NLP techniques, aren’t you?’). You will recognize techniques from a variety of sources. No prior understanding of these techniques or approaches is required for this book.

I recently bumped into a chief executive I had worked with around three years earlier. She said that one of the biggest differences the work had made was to the middle managers, who were now engaged with the bigger picture. They were no longer working in silos, but making a much larger contribution to the organization. I like to think that this has not only helped the senior managers, but has made the working lives of those middle managers better, as well as those of the organization’s customers.

Phil Jones
Author Communicating Strategy

Why did I write Communicating strategy

In early 2006, I noticed that my websites were getting a lot of activity on the topic of ‘communicating strategy’. It was closely behind ‘strategy’ as a topic of interest. As I researched the Internet to see what else was available on the topic, I realized it was a topic that was not well covered.

However, within a few sites I came across one that suggested five principles of communicating strategy, of which one was: ‘You should not communicate your strategy, as you will leak your strategy to the competition.’ I was incensed by this idea, for two reasons. If your strategy is so unsustainable that your competitors can simply copy it that easily, then it is a pretty poor strategy. Secondly, if you don’t tell your people about your strategy, how can they possibly execute it and help you refine it and deliver it?

So, incensed by the ‘don’t communicate your strategy’ idea I looked for books on communicating strategy. There seemed to be none. There were plenty on strategy formulation, and strategy implementation. There were many on public relations. There were lots and lots of interpersonal communications. But there seemed to be nothing specifically on communicating strategy. So I decided to write one based upon all my experience.

I have been helping organizations describe, develop, articulate and communicate their strategy more effectively for over twelve years. I have been privileged to work in some great consultancies with some great colleagues and wonderful clients. The experiences that make up this book come from a whole variety of different types of organizations. I have been on the receiving end of strategy, as a line manager and helping to formulate it in a variety of organizations.

When I worked for the originators of the balanced scorecard, Norton & Kaplan, the emphasis was always on the understanding and drivers of the strategy much more than just its measurement and management.
Rather it has been about helping the management team be clear about the underlying thinking around the strategy, so they could walk out of their board room with a complete and consistent understanding in their heads of what they were trying to achieve, and why. Much of this has involved helping them have a richer conversation as they develop and articulate it. They then have a deeper understanding of the assumptions and underlying thinking, so they can tell the story effectively to their people. The techniques I have seen, learnt and developed through these experiences are in this book.

Read the book, and most importantly, follow what it says and I hope you will be a better and more skilled at communication as a manager or direcor

Phil Jones

About the book, Communicating Strategy

Welcome to Communicating Strategy

"Communicating Strategy", by Phil Jones, helps you communicate your strategy more effectively. It explains how to communicate strategy better, planning the communication of your strategy and techniques to communicate strategy so people get it, engage with it and contribute to the strategy..

It has a very simple premise: The more people understand and engage with your strategy, the more they can contribute. But that requires a clearly presented strategy, communicated effectively, so people understand how they can engage with it, make it relevant to them and make a difference.

Communicating Strategy - The Book

Communicating Strategy was written to address a gap in the market: To offer communication strategies to help you communicate strategy better. How to communicate strategy through your organisation. It has come out of our extensive consultancy experience over 20 years, with many diverse organisations, across the world.

The book is published by Gower . You can read the book, learn more from our newsletter, and contact us directly for training, talks and consultancy advice.

Just go to the website www.communicating-strategy.com