🧠 Why Strategy Often Fails (And What You Can Do About It)
You’ve seen it before: an executive team spends months crafting a strategic plan. The PowerPoint looks polished. The goals sound ambitious. But six months later—nothing’s changed.
Why?
Because strategy without execution is just a dream.
According to Wharton professor Lawrence G. Hrebiniak, 67% of well-formulated strategies fail due to poor execution (Making Strategy Work, 2005). Further research published in Harvard Business Review found that among 400 global CEOs, the #1 challenge in business wasn’t strategy development—it was executional excellence (Sull et al., 2015).
What most teams lack is a bridge between strategy and operations.
That’s exactly what the Five Steps of Strategic Planning offers—a clear roadmap from defining your purpose to executing measurable results. Developed by BSC Designer, this framework has been used by companies of all sizes to close the gap between thinking and doing.
Let’s break it down.
🔷 Step 1: Define Strategy Attributes
The first step isn’t about setting goals or KPIs. It’s about answering the big questions:
- Why do we exist?
- What do we stand for?
- Where are we going?
This foundational phase sets the tone for everything that follows.
1. Core Values
Your values are the non-negotiable principles that shape your organization’s culture and decision-making.
Examples:
- “Customer Obsession” – Amazon
- “Be Bold” – Meta
- “Move Fast, Stay Humble” – Stripe
These values should guide hiring, product design, and how your team behaves under pressure.
2. Vision
Your vision is a long-term, aspirational outcome. It defines the future you’re building.
Example: “To accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy.” – Tesla
Vision is your compass. It tells your team, investors, and customers where you’re headed.
3. Mission
The mission answers, “What do we do, for whom, and why?”
Example: “To organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.” – Google
A strong mission grounds your team in purpose and clarity.
✅ Pro Tip: At this stage, align key stakeholders early. Strategic misalignment here will ripple through every other step.
🎯 Step 2: Strategy Formulation
Now that you know your “why,” it’s time to translate that into clear, directional priorities.
This is where you define what matters most—the big bets your organization will make.
1. Strategic Priorities
These are the 3–5 critical focus areas that will drive progress toward your vision.
Examples:
- Enter a new market
- Reduce churn by 30%
- Scale from €1M to €10M ARR
- Launch a new product line
These are not tasks—they’re themes that guide all decisions, resource allocation, and measurement.
2. Strategy Tools & Frameworks
Support your formulation process using structured thinking tools:
- SWOT – Analyze internal and external factors
- VRIO – Identify sustainable competitive advantages
- PESTEL – Examine macro-environmental forces
- GAP Analysis – Measure the gap between current and target state
- Risk Assessment – Understand threats to execution
Don’t overcomplicate it. Use 1–2 tools to get clear, then move forward.
🧱 Step 3: Strategy Description
This is where strategy becomes real and operational.
1. Business Goals
Break down each strategic priority into SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound).
Example: “Increase Net Revenue Retention (NRR) from 100% to 120% in 12 months.”
2. Strategy Map
Visualize how goals are connected through cause and effect.
Improved onboarding → Higher activation rate → Increased retention → Lower CAC
These maps create clarity across teams and ensure everyone understands the bigger picture.
3. KPIs (Key Performance Indicators)
Measure progress using a mix of:
- Leading Indicators – Predict future outcomes (e.g., % of new users completing onboarding)
- Lagging Indicators – Reflect past outcomes (e.g., MRR, NPS)
Use dashboards to track these continuously.
4. Strategic Initiatives
These are the projects and action plans that make your goals happen.
Initiative Example: Redesign onboarding flow by Q2 with a €15k budget and a target of +20% activation.
Each initiative needs:
- A clear owner
- Timeline
- Budget
- Connected KPI(s)
📌 Reminder: Every initiative must tie directly to a goal and strategic priority. If it doesn’t, cut it.
🔁 Step 4: Cascading the Strategy
This is where many strategies break down—when they don’t reach the people doing the work.
Cascading means translating strategy into departmental and individual objectives.
Why It Matters:
- Aligns the entire organization
- Creates transparency and ownership
- Helps every team member understand their contribution
🎯 Example:
- Company Goal: Increase CSAT to 90% → CX Team Goal: First-response time under 2 hours → Agent Goal: Maintain 4.8/5 satisfaction rating
Use OKRs (Objectives and Key Results) or Balanced Scorecards to structure this.
✅ Pro Tip: Run workshops to co-create goals with each team. People commit to what they help build.
⚙️ Step 5: Execute, Measure, and Adapt
Strategy is only as good as its execution. This final step turns plans into results.
1. Launch Strategic Initiatives
Ensure every initiative has:
- An owner
- A team
- A timeline
- Resources
Use agile sprints or project plans to manage progress.
2. Monitor KPIs
Don’t wait until the quarter ends to check performance. Set a rhythm:
- Weekly → Tactical team metrics
- Monthly → Management KPI reviews
- Quarterly → Strategic reviews & pivots
Use automated dashboards to stay data-driven.
3. Learn & Iterate
Execution is dynamic. Review what’s working, what’s not, and adjust fast.
- Kill projects that underperform
- Double down on initiatives that work
- Shift resources as needed
Strategy is not a set-and-forget exercise—it’s a living process.
🧠 Build a Strategic Operating Rhythm
To make this framework sustainable, embed it into your operating cadence:
FrequencyActivityAnnualVision refresh, strategic priorities updateQuarterlyKPI planning, goal setting, resource allocationMonthlyProgress reviews, initiative check-insWeeklyTactical syncs, blocker resolution
This rhythm keeps teams aligned and strategy alive.
🛠 Tools to Support Strategic Execution
Depending on your organization’s size and maturity, you’ll need tools for planning, tracking, and collaboration.
Enterprise Solutions (SAP Ecosystem)
Many growing companies and large organizations rely on SAP’s integrated suite:
- SAP Analytics Cloud – For dashboards and KPI visualization
- SAP Signavio – For process mapping and transformation
- SAP Build / SAP Project Management – For initiative execution and workflow automation
Startup-Friendly Tools
In the early stages, you may use simpler tools such as:
- Asana / Monday / Notion – Task and project management
- Power BI / Klipfolio – Lightweight KPI dashboards
- Miro / Lucidchart – Visualize strategic maps
🧭 Tip: Start simple. Use what your team already knows. As you grow, consider enterprise solutions that scale with you.
📚 Sources & References
- Hrebiniak, L. G. (2005). Making Strategy Work: Leading Effective Execution and Change. Wharton School Publishing.
- Sull, D., Homkes, R., & Sull, C. (2015). Why Strategy Execution Unravels—and What to Do About It. Harvard Business Review. Read it here
- BSC Designer. (2024). Five Steps of Strategic Planning. Explore here
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are my own and do not represent SAP. Mentioned tools are illustrative only.
✅ Final Thoughts
Strategy execution is your competitive advantage.
It’s what separates companies that talk about growth from those that actually scale. The Five Steps of Strategic Planning offers a structured, repeatable way to:
- Define your purpose
- Prioritize strategically
- Translate ideas into action
- Align your team
- Execute with discipline
Whether you're running a startup, scaling a business, or innovating within a large company—this framework will help you close the gap between vision and impact.
🙋♂️ Let’s Work Together
If you're building your next strategy—or struggling to execute your current one—I’d love to help.
As a top-rated mentor on MentorCruise, I support founders, operators, and corporate leaders in designing high-impact strategic systems.
✅ Book a session if you want to:
- Set clear KPIs and OKRs
- Build an execution dashboard
- Align cross-functional teams
- Translate strategy into real results
Let’s move from vision to execution—together. 🚀
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