Why is picking and then sticking to a strategy so difficult? This article describes this problem in greater detail.

Most projects we work on around the world now involve simultaneous technology innovation and product development. R&D at the same time and in multiple places. Our clients are doing this at multiple sites, with multiple companies, and with multiple corporate stakeholders in each company. This is the norm for most complex technology projects. How are we managing them and what causes right product at the right time outcomes?

All to often we see the translation of strategy to execution fail. Tremendous amounts of time and executive effort go into creating and articulating strategy, yet the broad vision and directional guidance that this effort is supposed to generate tends to get "lost in translation" when it is handed down to the operating units to execute. In our work with executive teams we've developed a mapping approach to making this connection.

A major problem in organizations is theincremental misinterpretation of a corporate vision by the cascading hierarchy of executives/managers/supervisors and workers as they attempt to translate a relatively abstract vision and strategy into specific "on-the-ground" tactics for each Function, Department and specific job within the organization. In other words, are the "ground level" tactics an accurate "reflection" of (i.e., are they aligned with) the vision/strategy?

This example illustrates the process of mapping strategy and then setting program priorities. The key is to link strategy formulation with the means to realize the results (i.e. execute). It illustrates the linkage between vision-strategy-program.

Define ownership after first defining what needs to get done... "Organize around the work, rather than force the work to conform to the organizational structure..."said GE's Jack Welch. We've applied this concept to strategy mapping.

Successful companies understand the connection between strategy and execution.

This is a process for working with executive teams trying to solve transformational business problems--many of these problems are the result of recent dramatic changes in the economy.

An example of the development of a strategy for a non-profit project to restore a Historic Julia Morgan building.