Most Organizations Fail to Execute Their Strategies Successfully ¹
Most CEOs know they need a strategic plan. Many avoid creating one. Why? Because strategic planning often feels like a complex exercise that ends up in a drawer, never to be seen again.
Does this sound familiar?
Strategic planning fails not because of poor intentions but because most approaches lack a crucial foundation: the cultural system. Without this foundation, even the most brilliant strategy will crumble during execution.
This article breaks down how to develop a strategic plan that gets executed, starting with what many CEOs overlook—your company’s cultural foundation—before building toward the powerful 3HAG Strategic Framework.
Why Most Strategic Plans Fail
CEOs of growing companies face a common challenge. When a business expands beyond 10 or so employees, the direct influence of the founder begins to diminish. What worked in the startup phase—the founder’s vision and direct oversight—no longer scales.
The statistics paint a stark picture:
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- Only 10% of strategic plans achieve their intended outcomes
- 95% of employees don’t understand their company’s strategy
- 85% of leadership teams spend less than one hour per month discussing strategy
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The root cause? Most strategic planning approaches jump straight to tactics without building the necessary cultural foundation. They focus on the “what” and “how” before establishing the “why.”
The Cultural System: Your Strategic Foundation
The Cultural System acts as the bedrock for effective strategic planning. It creates alignment, drives decision-making, and motivates teams through challenging implementation phases.
Think of your Cultural System as the company’s DNA—it shapes everything from hiring decisions to customer interactions. When properly developed, it answers three critical questions:
- Why does our company exist? (Core Business Purpose)
- How do we behave? (Core Values)
- What mountain are we climbing? (BHAG – Big Hairy Audacious Goal)
For a step-by-step instruction on how to discover your Core Purpose, Core Values, and develop your BHAG, See links at the “Next Steps” setcion below.
Connecting Cultural Foundation to the Strategic Framework
With your cultural foundation established, you’re now ready to build an effective strategic plan. This is where the 3HAG Strategic Framework becomes powerful.
The 3HAG (3-Year Highly Achievable Goal) Framework bridges the gap between your long-term BHAG and your quarterly execution priorities. It creates a medium-term target that’s far enough to be strategic but close enough to be actionable.
While the full 3HAG methodology involves additional components, the critical insight is this: Without first establishing your cultural foundation (Core Purpose, Core Values, and BHAG), even the most sophisticated strategic framework will struggle during implementation.
The 3HAG approach provides the tactical bridge, but your cultural system provides the reason and motivation to cross that bridge.
In upcoming articles, I will cover additional components of the 3HAG framework.
Implementing Your Cultural Foundation
Once you’ve defined your Core Purpose, Core Values, and BHAG, implementation becomes critical. Here’s how to ensure these cultural elements become living parts of your organization:
1. Communicate relentlessly
Share these elements frequently and consistently. They should appear in team meetings, company communications, office walls, and decision-making processes.
2. Hire and fire based on values
Make your Core Values a central part of your hiring process. Be willing to pass on technically qualified candidates who don’t align with your values. Similarly, be prepared to remove employees who consistently violate these principles.
3. Celebrate purpose and values in action
Create recognition programs that highlight employees exemplifying your values. Share stories that connect daily work to your Core Purpose.
4, Reference in decision-making
When facing tough choices, explicitly reference your Core Purpose, Values, and BHAG. Ask: “Which option best aligns with who we are and where we’re going?”
5. Review and renew quarterly
Set aside time each quarter to assess whether decisions and actions are aligning with your cultural system. Make adjustments as needed.
Measuring the Impact of Your Cultural System
How do you know if your cultural foundation is working? Look for these indicators:
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- Decision velocity increases: Teams make decisions faster because they have clear guiding principles
- Alignment improves: Less conflict about company direction and priorities
- Engagement rises: Employees connect their work to a meaningful purpose
- Recruiting becomes easier: Your clarity attracts candidates who resonate with your mission
- Customer loyalty grows: Authentic purpose and values create stronger customer connections
Moving Toward Strategic Execution
With your cultural foundation in place, you’re ready to build the tactical elements of your strategic plan. The 3HAG Framework provides an excellent methodology for this next step, creating the bridge between your long-term vision and quarterly execution.
However, remember this crucial insight: Strategy without culture leads to short-lived execution at best. Culture without strategy leads to enthusiastic movement in circles. The power comes from connecting both.
Final Thoughts
Developing a strategic plan that gets executed starts with building your cultural system—defining why you exist (Core Purpose), how you behave (Core Values), and what mountain you’re climbing (BHAG).
These elements aren’t just philosophical exercises. They’re practical tools that create the foundation for effective strategic planning and execution. They answer the fundamental question every employee needs to know: “Why should I care about implementing this plan?”
Great CEOs understand that strategy doesn’t fail in formulation—it fails in implementation. By starting with culture, you create the conditions for successful execution before you ever get to tactics and metrics.
The next time you approach strategic planning, resist the urge to jump straight to objectives and KPIs. Instead, invest time building your cultural foundation first. When you finally implement a framework like 3HAG, you’ll find your team ready and motivated to turn plans into reality.
Remember: Strategic planning isn’t about creating documents. It’s about creating alignment, motivation, and clarity that drive consistent execution. Start with culture, and the rest will follow.
Notes
¹ 4 Common Reasons Strategies Fail, Harvard Business Review, June 24, 2022
The 3HAG™ framework is described in Shannon’s book: 3HAG Way: The Strategic Execution System that ensures your strategy is not a Wild-Ass-Guess!
3HAG™ is a trademark of Shannon Byrne Susko, Founder & CEO of Metronomics
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