As I was ushered into the office, the CEO bluntly got to the point as he paced around the room.
“I’ve bet my career on this new launch, and I need it to work. Our strategy makes sense. Our funders love it. Customers want what we offer. Sounds great, right?”
I nodded while the CEO worriedly continued. “But we spend hours and hours in meetings going over all the details, and yet there is STILL a crisis every day that sets us back! “
He grimaced. “We’re burning through money, and everyone is exhausted. If we don’t turn this mess around quickly, I’m going to have to do something… drastic.”
I ventured a question. “How do you start your hours and hours of meetings? With the biggest RISKS or diving into all the details?
The room got very still.
Getting Lost Reading Street Signs
I work with leaders every day who are launching big high-stakes strategies. And when it’s high stakes, it’s different. You have limited time and limited resources, and the consequences are severe.
As they implement, I’ve found CEOs, boards and leadership teams can invest hours—even days!—in drawn-out reviews talking about a zillion things. It might be stories about the latest customer or funder meetings, the gory details of process or product problems, or pesky issues with a vendor or employee.
It’s not that all these things aren’t important to implementing your strategy. But while you’re diving into the details, you can lose your direction. And get lost.
It’s like speeding down the highway and reading every sign along the road — and STILL missing that really important exit sign that gets you to your destination fastest!
When you are managing a high-stakes strategy, you need to deal with the big risks FIRST.
Before you launch, make sure you have identified the significant risks and assumptions of your strategy. Rank them in terms of impact and likelihood..
But that doesn’t end your de-risking effort.
As you implement, continue to review the risks and assumptions that could have a big impact on your results.Do this as part of your regular strategy review meetings. As you go through your implementation journey, ask
- Is this risk still valid?
- Are our assumptions still true? Has anything changed?
- What can we do today to mitigate this risk? Seize this opportunity?
- What new risks have come up that we didn’t originally see?
Making risk management a routine part of your strategy implementation rhythm is important — but don’t leave the topic for last!
START every implementation review by addressing the biggest risks upfront. It will actually help you see further down the road.
Even if you spend the whole meeting talking about the biggest risks, your time will be better spent addressing the big risks than going around the room and randomly addressing topics that people may want to bring up.
Prioritizing your time this way will speed up results and avoid catastrophes. You will improve clarity, accelerate decision-making, and provide context so that leaders can make more informed day-to-day decisions. It will also help you sleep at night, knowing that the big risks are visible to others and that you and your team have considered what to do when hazards arise.
So, as you speed down the highway implementing your big idea, don’t miss the right exit! Prioritize the signs with the BIG RISKS first – and you will always get to your destination faster.
I welcome your thoughts – and hearing about your own learnings from “missing exits”!
This article is part of my newsletter, which equips and energizes leaders with practical ways to move forward, whether leading a new strategy or getting one back on track. Subscribe if you’d like insights like this one or twice a month.
Explore my website, www.gotomarketimpact.com, to learn more about my upcoming book, “FastTrack Your Big Idea!” as well as my offerings to help you and your team clarify your strategy and get results faster. Or message me, and let’s connect! susan.Schramm@gotomarketimpact.com.