Seven Mistakes That Cause Resistance in Strategy

Implementing a new strategy in an organization often causes uncertainty, stress, frustration, or anxiety. What’s more, even if you’re convinced that your strategy is the right one, it doesn’t automatically mean that others will accept it. Resistance to changes in the organization is natural. Disapproval can stem from fears of the unknown and a desire to maintain the status quo.

But on the other hand, resistance can cause delays, inefficiencies, and even failure.

Here are seven common mistakes to avoid resistance when working on your strategy and implementation:

1. Excessive optimism: thinking that more can be done than is actually possible. Exaggerating the potential benefits of a strategy over what can actually be achieved.
2. Lack of focus : Trying to accomplish too many things at once.
3. Lack of Vision: insufficient explanation of why change is needed.
4. Impatience: we forget that change takes time to assimilate.
5. Unclear communication: people don’t know what to expect and what to do.
6. Inconsistency: Sending mixed messages and conflicting signals about the direction and goals of the strategy. Leading by example even in the smallest of things.
7. Neglecting stakeholders: Lack of involvement of key stakeholders in the strategic planning and decision-making process.

If you think about the source of these errors, definitely you can point to ONE but very important one. This is

neglecting the people responsible for implementing the strategy to work on the strategy

When a strategy is created by “elite” teams in closed rooms, there is a risk that it will be “detached from reality” and limited to the mindset of those few people.

Therefore, if you want the strategy to be effective and widely accepted – I haveone piece of advice:

Listen to people and listen to what they have to say.

The strategic process should be more open. With an open strategy, leaders gain access to a variety of sources of knowledge that they would not otherwise have access to. It also helps leaders understand their own limitations in understanding the market, while at the same time building the acceptance necessary for successful implementation.

If you want to develop or refine a strategy in the spirit of an open strategy without resistance – I will show you how to do it. Contact me!

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Credit: Image by manseok Kim from Pixabay