Executive Summary
Strategic change isn’t just about coming up with bold ideas, it’s about making sure these
ideas will drive the change your organisation needs and then turning those ideas into
reality. And doing this sustainably, at pace and without leaving a trail of half-finished
initiatives behind you. For directors, executives and senior leaders, this is where
reputations are made or unmade. Whether you’re repositioning a business, entering new
markets or navigating a complex digital transformation, your ability to translate strategy
into results is what truly counts.
Here’s the challenge, most strategic change initiatives don’t fail because the strategy was
flawed. They fail because the execution becomes a game of whispers, caught in a fog of
good intentions, PowerPoint slides and missed follow-through. This article outlines ten of
the most common (and completely preventable) ways that strategic change efforts
unravel, along with pragmatic, boardroom-ready advice on how to sidestep the pitfalls
1. Mistaking Planning for Strategy
First things first, a spreadsheet with activities and deadlines is not a strategy. It’s logistics
dressed up as leadership. Sure, a plan is essential later down the line, but if it’s not
anchored to a set of deliberate, strategic choices, then it’s just busywork.
Strategy demands we make tough choices. A delivery plan demands we follow a schedule.
They are not the same thing.
The problem? We confuse movement with momentum. Boxes get ticked, status reports look
healthy, but the business isn’t really going anywhere new.
So, what is the difference? A Strategy is a direction of travel, it’s understanding that
something needs to change based on where the organisation is at right now and where
you want to be. The vision for the future is set and now you need to set out the journey of
change to go from the “As Is” to the “To Be”. A Strategy articulates what needs to change
and why to take your organisation on this journey, the outcomes of each critical
deliverable and how one deliverable or change unlocks or enables capability for the next
step of the journey. Think of it as a map or a blueprint setting everything out, including
any known pitfalls that could hinder success.
Fix: Revisit what you are referring to as the Strategy. Do you clearly understand the “As
Is” position in terms of measurable performance and the clear problem statements (or
opportunities) that need to be addressed? Second, do you have a clear future state
defined with a vision statement and measurable demonstrations of what good will look
like when you’re living in the world of the vision? Now think of this as a spectrum from the
“As Is” to the “To Be” and the Strategy is what will take your organisation along the
spectrum from one end, to the other. Being as specific as possible, capture the changes
and critical deliverables that will take you on this journey and at what point each needs to commence and deliver to unlock the next step. Outcomes from this phase should be a
Strategy Document which sets out all of this, a Visual Roadmap and a matrix connecting
Strategic Objectives, Change, Deliverables and Success Criteria (measurable if available).
2. Not Stress-Testing the Strategy Against External Realities
It’s easy to fall in love with your strategy when it’s been lovingly crafted in an away-day
bubble. But if it can’t survive real-world headwinds, it could be fiction rather than
foresight.
What if, a competitor launches a game-changer. The economy wobbles. A customer
segment disappears. If you didn’t build those possibilities into your thinking, you’ll be
blindsided.
Now, that’s not to say risks should stop your strategy from getting off the starting block,
quite the opposite! Knowing what could go wrong will allow you to build in mitigations.
And, should these risks materialise, you will be prepared and able to pivot quickly and
effectively because it won’t have come as a huge shock.
Fix: Challenge your own assumptions, what are you assuming to be true for this strategy
to hold up and deliver successfully? How do you validate these assumptions and what
happens if any of these assumptions prove to be invalid? Build external stress-testing into
your strategic development process. What if your best customer leaves? What if
regulation changes? Don’t wait to find out the hard way
3. Misalignment Between Capital Allocation and Strategic Priorities
You say innovation is key, but your budget still clings to legacy systems like a comfort
blanket. Too often, investment lags behind intent. Strategic priorities are announced with
fanfare, but nothing downstream changes.
This is a tricky one because you can’t spend money you don’t have. Right? However, what
you’re talking about here is investment! As per point one, if you are able to quantify the
“As Is” vs the “To Be” then you can quantify what the future state will be worth in terms of
revenue. And, as long as you’re stress testing and validating the accuracy of the Strategy,
it makes sound business sense to invest financially in the strategic journey. Providing of
course the overall Business Case stands up and you’re tracking these costs and benefits to
prevent any deviation.
Fix: Audit your spending against your stated strategy. If the numbers don’t match the
narrative, something has to give. Adjust budgets to fund the future, not just the current
state.
4. Strategic Inertia – Too Slow to Act
Even the best strategy has an expiry date. If you move too slowly, you could miss the
moment. You can have the right strategy and still lose. Why? Because someone else
moved faster.
Speed doesn’t mean reckless. But it does mean making timely decisions, avoiding over governance and getting comfortable with the idea that imperfect action beats perfect
delay.
From day one you need to have a plan for a plan. For example, when will you need to
agree the “As Is” and future state? When do you need to have the Strategy defined?
When will the strategy be approved and translated into Programmes and Projects for
delivery? Being accountable to these dates will keep you on track and ensure you move
efficiently but in a controlled and structured way.
Fix: If you feel like you’ve been defining the Strategy for ever and still haven’t got started
with delivery you need to pause to ensure you haven’t already missed the boat. Is the
Strategy still relevant and worth doing? If so, define the plan for a plan and ensure
critical decision makers are committed to the dates. If not, it’s ok to start from the
beginning with this. It’s better to spend a few weeks getting this right, than jump in early
and waste time and money on something that isn’t going to deliver the value your
organisation needs.
5. No Strategic Narrative
If people can’t see themselves in the strategy, they won’t follow it, advocate it or
champion it. Many strategies fail not because they’re bad ideas, but because no one can
tell what they’re about. No one will get on a plane without knowing the destination!
“A compelling narrative turns a strategy from a document into a movement.”
When it gets to the point of communicating the strategy, especially if you’d done
everything right so far, you will know it inside and out. And you will be eager to start
making this happen!
But first, you need to get people on the plane with you, and not because they have to, but
because they want to. People need a story. One that explains the problem, the
opportunity, the destination and how their work fits into that journey. Without it there is
confusion, resistance, apathy and worst of all, fear!
Fix: Build a genuine narrative. Start with the “As Is” state. Show the gap. Share the vision.
Describe the outcomes that will bring about change and the programmes and projects
that will make it happen. Be clear on why this change is needed, the benefits it will bring
and how it will likely impact everyone. And open up the two-way communication channels,
you may hear something at this stage that means you look at the Strategy differently and
you realise something critical needs to change.
6. Undefined Strategic Objectives and Misleading KPIs
If you’re measuring activity, not outcomes, you’re just counting how busy you are.”
A strategy without numbers is like a road trip without a map. Qualitative storytelling gets
hearts on board but without quantifying the journey, how do you know if you’re making
real progress? You wouldn’t set out on a long drive without checking the mileage, the
estimated arrival time, or whether a wrong turn just cost you an hour. Strategy is no
different.
First, you need to quantify both the starting point (your “As Is”) and the destination (your
“To Be”). That way, you know whether the problems you’re trying to solve are the right
ones and whether you’re on track to fix them. Gut feel alone won’t cut it. You also need
clearly defined, measurable strategic objectives. Think SMART. Then break these down
into programmes and projects, each mapped to outcomes. This shapes your delivery
roadmap and clarifies which deliverables lead to which benefits, including the enabling
initiatives that unlock future value.
At Prospect Change, we call this the Golden Thread, it’s a visible, measurable link from
strategy, to change, to delivery and finally to impact. It’s your navigation system. And
when it’s built properly, it tells you when you’re on course, and when you’ve taken a wrong
turn.
And remember, in a large Strategy, there will likely be projects that in and of themselves,
do not deliver benefit or value but what they deliver enables another project to
commence which will unlock benefit and value. In these projects, track the success criteria
associates with deliverables.
Fix: Revisit your Strategy, are you able to link every deliverable back to the Strategic
Objectives and do you even have measurable Strategic Objectives? If not, you are missing
the critical goal posts that will reassure you when on track but also warn you when you
start to deviate from the path. Establish the Golden Thread asap!
7. Knee-Jerk Responses Masquerading as Strategy
Market pressure hits. A competitor does something impressive that delivers huge results.
Suddenly there’s a new initiative being drafted at 10pm and last-minute workshops in
diaries to get a new project off the ground. Sound familiar?
Whilst reactive change is needed, change born in panic rarely leads to progress. These
initiatives tend to skip vision-setting, stakeholder engagement or strategic fit. The result?
A flurry of activity with no clear endgame or even validation that it’s going to take the
organisation in the right direction. This is when time is wasted, money is lost and
confidence wanes.
Fix: Stop. Breathe. Ask, what’s our long-term destination? Validate the vision. Test it with
stakeholders and truly question whether this new approach will deliver the results needed
for the long run. Sustainable growth is achieved through well thought out change and it
takes patience. Remember, it’s a marathon, not a sprint!
8. No Plan for Sustainability
You have a fantastic, water right strategy and clearly defined programmes and projects
linked solidly to the Strategic Objectives. But even then, you can’t truly relax! So many
project lifecycles are set up to get a project through delivery and then the project goes t
closure, and the project manager moves on. For example, a new customer contact system
is launched successfully, handed over to the BAU team and the project closes. But what
about those benefits? You won’t reap the rewards until the system is fully embedded,
colleagues are managing it with ease and customers are enjoying the seamless processes.
It could be 6 months down the line and even then, the benefits were theoretical – only
time will tell if these actually materialise.
Therefore, don’t be lulled into a false sense of security that because you’ve delivered a
successful project you have also delivered successful change. The Project Manager, PMO
and Business Lead must work collaboratively to define and Embed and Sustain a Plan
which is linked to Benefit Realisation Planning. And although the Project will close, this
should hand over to PMO and the Business Lead for ongoing management.
At the end of the day, if you don’t embed, reinforce and track adoption, there is a risk
that people will do what people do best…revert to what’s comfortable.
Fix: As part of Project Closure, build in an Embed and Sustain process for every project,
initially led by the Project Manager with accountability for deliver and oversight moving
to the Business Lead and PMO. If projects have already closed, complete a Health Check
on these to check sustainability and review progress of Benefit Realisation.
9. Poor Leadership Alignment and No Ongoing Accountability
When it comes to strategic change, alignment isn’t optional, it’s essential. And that means
more than a nod of agreement at a leadership meeting. It means genuine, crossfunctional commitment to the strategy, with every senior leader pulling in the same
direction.
“If one team’s pushing transformation while another’s protecting the status quo, don’t
expect progress.”
Sometimes, strategy is championed by a single directorate, enthusiastic, well-meaning but
operating in isolation. That’s not enough. Meaningful change at scale requires all leaders
to be aligned, not just intellectually but practically. It will mean reprioritising resources,
rebalancing pet projects and making coordinated decisions that serve the organisation,
not just individual portfolios.
And when the project phase ends, that alignment can’t fade. Benefits take time to
materialise. Without sustained ownership and accountability, even the most promising
changes start to unravel.
Fix: Align leadership early, and keep them aligned. Make visible commitments to the
strategy. Revisit alignment regularly and hold each other to account for delivering outcomes, not just outputs. And when the project wraps, ensure there’s still someone
leading the charge through the long tail of change. And if you find yourself already on
the road to delivery without this alignment, I’d strongly recommend you take a pause and
re-engage.
10. No PMO or Strategy Office to Connect Strategy, Change and Delivery
With Strategy, as exciting as it is, from concept to realisation, there’s an incredible
amount of heavy lifting that happens in between. That level of discipline, detail and dayto-day orchestration needs a single source of accountability and oversight. That’s where
the PMO comes in…or Strategy Office, Transformation Office, Change Hub, take your
pick. The name doesn’t matter. It’s the principles that truly matter.
Strategic leaders are best placed to create the vision and shape the destination. But it’s
unrealistic (and unwise) to expect them to keep their hands on the wheel when getting
into the detail. That’s where the PMO comes in, not as a passive reporting function, but as
your organisation’s air traffic control.
They’re the ones who establish the Golden Thread, quantify the journey and ensure every
moving part of your portfolio stays aligned to the bigger picture. They track everything;
from budgets, risks, dependencies, plans, benefits and resource pinch points. They don’t
just flag issues, they prevent many of them through structured governance, escalation
routes and regular check-ins that keep things on course.
Without a PMO or equivalent function, what happens? Strategic leaders get pulled into
the weeds. Projects slip out of alignment. Scope gets cut. Costs rise. Timelines stretch. And
ultimately, the Golden Thread between strategy and delivery frays, and with it, your
ability to realise the strategy at all.
Fix: Build a strategic delivery function (call it PMO, Strategy Office, Transformation
Office etc whatever fits your brand) with a clear mandate to establish and protect the
Golden Thread. Let your executives focus on direction and decision-making, while your
PMO manages progress, alignment and results. And if you want to see what this looks like
done well? Shameless plug, this is exactly what Prospect Change does best. Reach out if
you’d like to know more.
Closing Statement
Strategic change doesn’t fail because people don’t care. It fails because the architecture
to turn ambition into action is missing, messy or misaligned. When bold ideas meet
disciplined execution, that’s when transformation happens.
For executive leaders, this is your call to action. Not just to steer the ship, but to ensure
you’ve built a crew, a map and a compass capable of navigating the waters ahead. From
defining measurable objectives to embedding a delivery culture and giving your PMO the
mandate it deserves, this isn’t about more process. It’s about clarity, consistency and
confidence.
At Prospect Change, we help you build that architecture. So, if your strategy’s bold, but
your execution’s stalling, maybe it’s time we had a chat.
Because the truth is simple – great strategy deserves great delivery. And your
organisation deserves both.