When I walk into an organization to drive culture transformation, I don’t start with posters, mission statements, or flashy words. I diagnose first just like a good doctor. I ask: What’s in the bloodstream of this organization? Culture isn’t what’s written; it’s what people do when no one is watching a)Values – If leadership doesn’t live the values, don’t expect employees to. I expose misalignments. If a bank claims “customer-first” but managers ignore clients, that’s not a culture it’s a lie. You have seen it the bank manager behaves like the President of a country. Not easy to meet. I heard someone advising a leader that “make it difficult for others to reach you, but so easy for you to reach anyone.” Well, if you are a leader of a country, that advice is correct. You need to be hard to reach so that you can focus. But a bank manager? Be welcoming to customers.   Mr Strategy’s insights: People believe what they see. If leadership demands punctuality but managers show up late, the culture is “lateness.” I use powerful visuals before-and-after workplace photos, culture graphs, and video case studies to show where they are versus where they need to be. Once, I posted a simple image of an overflowing trash bin in a financial institution’s lobby. That one image told the real culture story of neglect. It changed everything. Attitudes – A bad attitude will kill the best strategy. I rewire mindsets by exposing limiting beliefs. I once worked with a team where managers feared taking ownership. We reshaped their thinking through tough conversations and accountability. I have an exercise I call the hot seat we get a manager to sit on the Chair, and everyone asks them questions they always needed to ask but could not. It is an interesting experience. Strategy’s insights: People follow what they hear consistently. I use repetition, tone, and storytelling to drive home key messages. I once played two contrasting voice recordings in a customer service training one where an agent sounded engaged, and another where they were robotic. The room immediately understood: tone isn’t a detail, it’s culture. I also coach leaders on how their voice shapes culture Do they inspire, or do they drain energy? Knowledge – You can’t transform what you don’t understand. I run deep-dive sessions where teams learn what culture means not as a buzzword but as daily behavior. Before starting a culture transformation project, we sit with leaders and create a one-source-of-truth portal where we put all the information about the project. And provide a forum for anyone with questions to ask, to which we reply within 6 hours at worst. The idea is to prevent rumors and unfounded allegations about the project. Mr Strategy’s Insights: Culture isn’t words; it’s action. I make teams move, and leaders do the work. Role-playing is a must. If we’re fixing accountability, I create real-time scenario challenges where managers take ownership of problems instead of passing the blame. In one workshop, I made executives clean their workstations before starting a “clean desk” culture initiative. That physical act made the lesson stick better than a two-hour PowerPoint ever could. Skills – Culture isn’t just an emotion it’s execution. I equip teams with real tools: decision-making frameworks, conflict resolution, and leadership skills. No theory just practical action. Mr Strategy’s Insights: Culture has a scent. Walk into an office, and you smell the difference between a vibrant and a toxic workplace. A factory where I once worked as a risk consultant had a foul-smelling staff canteen telling me instantly how little management cared about workers. We fixed it. Sometimes, I introduce pleasant scents of freshly brewed coffee for morning meetings or lavender for de-stressing sessions to subconsciously reinforce positive emotions linked to change. Once in the MD’s office, a cockroach crawled from under his high-priced furniture and danced on the red carpet, in full view of all of us during a strategy town hall planning meeting. I broke the silence by saying, “This is a good metaphor- for strategy to succeed, we must be on the lookout for any cockroaches and snakes in the business and put them in the spotlight as change champions.” The MD liked the idea, and we laughed about it, as he called the PA to exterminate it and get the office fumigated. Culture shifts when behaviors change at the core. No shortcuts. No gimmicks. Just transformation is driven from within. That’s how I fix broken cultures. Are you concerned about your current culture? Let’s talk. How would you describe your current culture? Which of the VAKS do you find critical?      

In Spencer Johnson’s “Who Moved My Cheese?”, we encounter two mice, Sniff and Scurry, and two little people, Hem and Haw, navigating a maze in search of cheese a metaphor for the resources and success we seek in life. When their cheese supply is unexpectedly moved, the characters’ varied responses highlight the human reactions to change. While Sniff and Scurry quickly adapt and search for new cheese, Hem resists. However, Haw eventually learns to embrace the new reality. This story underscores the importance of anticipating change and being prepared to adapt when circumstances shift. When leaders of public or private enterprises approach me to facilitate their strategic planning processes, I often begin strategic retreats by distributing copies of Spenser Johnson’s book to all company staff as one of my top 3 must-reads, before the strategic planning process starts, regardless of their attendance at the retreat. This exercise encourages everyone to ponder the “what ifs”, and challenges entrenched ways of thinking, fostering a culture that is receptive to change and innovation. Recently, the U.S. Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has “moved the cheese” for many Ugandan organizations by suspending USAID funding. This abrupt shift has left numerous employers grappling with halted projects and uncertain futures. However, much like in Johnson’s narrative, this development presents an opportunity for introspection and strategic realignment. The suspension of USAID aid, while challenging, catalyzes Uganda to reassess its dependencies and chart a path toward self-reliance. It’s a clarion call for strategic resource diversification. By reducing reliance on external aid, Uganda and all organizations that rely on such support can strengthen its internal capacities, foster innovation, and build resilient systems that are less vulnerable to external policy shifts. While serving at one of the local NGOs as a board member, I always called resource diversification. I advocated for restructuring to set up a powerful Secretariate office and hire people with a business mindset and entrepreneurial acumen to run the resource diversification or development unit as part of future-proofing the enterprise. The business side looks for money and operates profitably, which in turn provides support to the community programming. I was labeled an alarmist. In essence, the “cheese” has been moved. The question now is: will we, like Sniff and Scurry, swiftly adapt and seek new opportunities? Or will we, like Hem, resist the change to our detriment? The choice lies in our strategic response to this pivotal moment. All leaders must learn from this experience. Nothing is permanent. Mr Strategy

If you are not progressing as you should, the issue is not strategy. It is your execution discipline. In my experience, many leaders know where they want to be (vision/ambition/goals); and where they are now (current performance). The challenge is how to close the gap (how to get there). As Mr Strategy, that is the gap I come to help bridge work with your team and bring fresh air to the discussion to agree on the set of priority interventions to get there. Imagine a rowing team where every crew member is strong, disciplined, and eager to win. The problem? Half are rowing backward, a few are paddling sideways, and one or two are busy yelling about how hard they’re working instead of rowing at all. That’s your organization when priorities are misaligned. Everyone is busy, no one is coordinated, and the boat (B) is not going anywhere. Worse, it is probably sinking under the weight of too much effort spent in the wrong direction. I once worked with a financial institution that had a bold five-year strategy: grow market share, dominate digital banking, and deliver unparalleled customer service. Sounds impressive, right? Except their marketing team was putting millions into TV ads while their IT department was stuck with outdated systems that crashed every time a customer tried to log in. Their call centers were overwhelmed because shockingly when people couldn’t bank online, they called for help. They were rowing hard. Just not together. Here is the brutal truth: strategy execution doesn’t fail because people are lazy or incompetent. It fails because leaders forget their job isn’t to give inspiring speeches or write pretty plans. Your job is to create alignment. How does the individual staff role fit into the strategy? What is the implication of my failure to show up? Without it, your strategy is dead on arrival. Simon Sinek might call this the “why versus what” problem. Everyone knows the what the tasks, the initiatives, the endless meetings. But if the why is not clear and unified, those tasks become random acts of effort. You need ruthless alignment! Alignment is not a “soft” skill. It is the hardest work a leader will ever do. It requires ripping apart silos, confronting sacred cows, and sometimes admitting you, the leader, is the problem. Start by creating a single priority. Not five. Not three. One. A client in retail once told me their priority was “growth.” When I asked which kind of market share, profit margin, and geographic footprint they said, “All of it.” No wonder their teams were confused. Narrow the target. Measure alignment, not activity. Stop asking teams for updates on how hard they are working. Start asking how their actions directly support the one priority. If it does not, it is wasted energy. You need a Chief Alignment Officer (CAO); to identify such wasted energy instead of the officers who come after mistakes are committed! Confront conflict early. When rowing teams are offbeat, they stop, reset, and align. If your teams are out of sync, do not wait for the quarterly review to discover the mess. Fix it in real time. In this VUCA volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous world, the more agile you are the more you will win. A lesson from the frontline A healthcare organization I worked with turned this around beautifully. During the strategy retreat, we agreed to narrow our focus. They set a singular goal: improve patient outcomes. Every department was required to show exactly how their work contributed to this goal. IT upgraded scheduling systems to reduce delays. Marketing stopped running glossy ads and focused on educating patients. Even HR shifted hiring criteria to prioritize empathy over credentials. In two years, patient satisfaction soared, and the organization’s revenue followed. Alignment wasn’t a soft fix it was their competitive edge. That is why I say, execution is the strategy. My take Misaligned priorities are silent killers. They do not make headlines, but they quietly destroy progress, morale, and profits. If your teams are rowing in different directions (B), it’s not their fault. It’s yours. Leadership isn’t about steering the ship it’s about ensuring everyone rows in the same direction. Fix the alignment, and the results will follow. Now, stop writing strategy documents no one reads and start aligning your teams like your success depends on it because it does. Until next time, Mr. Strategy.