Maybe you’ve seen the “keep walking” commercial from the famous Johnny Walker whiskey brand. Well, if you were to produce a Strategy Execution advertisement, the tagline should be “keep learning”.
Why should you keep learning?
Most managers haven’t had a formal education in Strategy Execution.
Strategy Execution is a relatively new but rapidly growing knowledge field. Today, most business schools include Strategy Execution in their curriculum, and some even make it a cornerstone of their teaching program.
But this was not the case a few years ago, let alone a decade ago. This means that most managers over 35 don’t have a formal background in the topic. Some have caught up through reading or additional education, or by taking a training course. Most managers, however, have not.
Take advantage of new developments
Strategy Execution is a fast-developing knowledge field. Great new insights are popping up every month. Not all are worthwhile or fit your company, but it’s good to keep up-to-date. Decide what developments work for you, your team and your company − and use them!
Need for deeper knowledge
Strategy Execution is also very context-specific − and this demands deeper knowledge. You need to be able to tailor your Strategy Execution. Compare it to riding a mountain bike: just because you can ride the bike doesn’t make you a good mountain biker … and even if you are a good mountain biker, you will encounter a different challenge every time you go out, depending on the weather. As an example: a great first step is to understand the dynamics from initiative management. Applying them to your specific situation is evolving from knowledge to skill.
Strategy Execution should become part of every manager’s basic skills set. And each organisation should stimulate this development.
Furthermore, if you want to out-perform your competitors, it might be a good idea to have a few people follow what’s going on in the market and translate these developments to your company.
the performance factory strongly believes in the power of deeper knowledge,and we are committed to helping (future) managers and organisations increase their knowledge and skills.
Strategy Execution is a vast field. A good place to start might be the questions section in the performance library. We update them on a regular basis. If you like, you can mail us your own questions. We’ll be happy to answer them.
