31. Where the Rubber Meets the Road(map)
1. BLUF
Owning a violin doesn’t make you a violinist.
You must engage, practice, learn, and adjust over time.
Implementation embeds your Strategy into operations.
2. The Strategy Made Simple Method
This article is the 7th in a series exploring the Strategy Made Simple Method through the lens of a lemonade stand.
If you haven’t already, check out the previous articles here.
Today, we will explore the lemonade stand’s implementation.
©Maly Strategies 2023
People, Process, & Technology
Implementation is where the rubber meets the road.
Just like owning a violin doesn’t make you a violinist, a strategy isn't enough.
You must engage with it, practice, learn, and adjust over time.
Implementation embeds your strategy into operations through People, Processes, and Technology.
People
In his book Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Other’s Don’t, Jim Collins popularized the notion of having the right people “on the bus” to build a truly great company and focusing on the “who” first then the “what.”
Do you have the right people on the bus?
Have you clearly defined roles and responsibilities for clear accountability?
How are you driving customer experience to capture to determine what’s working, what’s not, and what needs to change?
If you hire employees, you will want to consider your workforce, culture, and how you incentivize the new behavior you want to see.
Figure out who you want on your bus and then make it happen.
The Lemonade Stand’s People
Process
Process includes a cadence that you can implement over the course of the year.
It starts with weekly team meetings that occur on the same day, at the same time, with the same agenda, and start and end on time.
Next are monthly dashboard reviews to gauge progress towards your near-term priorities.
These are followed by a quarterly roadmap update to review the last ninety days and set a new ninety-day plan.
Finally, there is an annual roadmap update to review the year and set new annual goals and the ninety-day plan.
The Lemonade Stand’s Processes
Technology
Technology includes the systems, infrastructure, and tools you have in place to deliver your products and services.
It includes everything from payment systems to automation in your internal sales processes to the latest AI virtual platform to connect your team.
The Lemonade Stand’s Technology
3. Pulling it All Together
Implementing the Lemonade Stand
4. Application
So, what does it look like for your business?
How do you embed strategy into operations?
What does this mean for your people, process, and technology?
What is one thing you can do today to drive greater clarity?
I help small technology and professional services businesses scale and grow.
If you want to break through to the next level in your business, drop me a message, and we'll arrange a 15-min call to see if I can help.
To your success,
~Susan
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