When I walk into most organizations, I see the same thing: applause for a new strategy, nods around the table, a thick printed plan, and then, silence for the next twelve months. That, my friend, is theatre. Another word for time wasting.
Effective boards shift focus from approvals to outcomes.
Approving the strategy is not the job done. It is where the real work begins. But too many boards treat strategy like a gala dinner, show up, clap, and go home. Meanwhile, execution dies in the corridors of power.
Most boards over-debate planning and under-scrutinize delivery. They want to polish the words on paper, but not track what happens when the ink dries. That is comfort, not governance.
Approving a strategy is not the same as ensuring it works.
A signed-off strategy means nothing if the board does not create a rhythm of checking whether the thing is moving.
“Execution is not EXCO’s private headache. It is the board’s ongoing responsibility..”
Pause the next board meeting and ask one question: “What real evidence have we seen in the last 90 days that this strategy is working?” Not progress reports, not promises, but evidence.
If no one has an answer, your strategy is not a strategy. It is just decoration.
Imagine an architect showing you a magnificent house plan. Glass walls, rooftop garden, water features.
Now, three years later, you visit the site and find a patch of weeds and an empty field. That is what strategy without execution looks like: beautiful blueprints and no bricks.
I was called in to assess a regional health fund. The board had signed off on a powerful 10-year strategy three years earlier. Big ambitions, digital health records, rural access, local partnerships. Sounded great.
But nothing had moved. Not one system procured or a new clinic opened. When I asked for evidence of progress, they pointed me to the strategy document. I asked again: “What has happened?”
It turns out they delegated everything to EXCO and never followed up.
The board assumed silence meant progress. But it meant paralysis. When it comes to strategy, effective boards micro-monitor.
Want to know how effective boards micro-monitor, as opposed to micro-managing? Comment and repost.
