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- Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
- Kategorie: Fachliteratur
- Sprache: Englisch
An expert playbook for effective strategy execution with a focus on proven, real-world, implementation
In The Execution Challenge: Delivering Great Strategy at Scale, a team of renowned strategy execution researchers and consultants delivers a practical and insightful new take on how to effectively execute strategy in today's complex, fast-changing environments. The authors focus on the often missing “HOW” of strategy execution — exploring the holistic perspectives, skills, and approaches needed to inform and translate strategy and create and maintain a “line-of-sight” between your strategy and its execution. You'll find proven techniques that you can implement to ensure that changes in business strategy are reflected in complementary changes to the organizational project portfolio. The Execution Challenge includes over 70 diagrams and figures, an organizational assessment, and reusable frameworks.
You'll also discover:
- A comprehensive leadership toolkit of approaches, skills, knowledge, processes, and examples you can employ immediately to translate and execute on even the most ambitious strategies
- A multidimensional and nuanced perspective on understanding modern organizational structures and design that provides a comprehensive view of your firm's value proposition
- How to align business strategy with project-level execution and maintain the alignment as strategy evolves
A can't-miss toolkit for converting words and ideas into coordinated action and momentum, The Execution Challenge is the real-world guide to strategy execution that executives, strategists, transformation and innovation leaders, strategic planners, managers, directors, entrepreneurs, and other business leaders have been waiting for.
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Seitenzahl: 466
Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2024
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Table of Contents
Cover
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Foreword
Preface
Introduction
About This Book
Moving into Action
Chapter 1: Strategy Development, Alignment, and Execution
What Is Strategy?
Why Is Strategy Needed?
Strategy and Strategic Planning
The Business Strategy Development Process
IT/Business Alignment
Linking IT and Business Strategies
The Role of Portfolio Management in Strategy Execution
The Education Challenge
Where Do We Go from Here?
Notes
Chapter 2: The Role of Strategic Business Architecture in Strategy Development and Execution
What Is Strategic Business Architecture?
The Contemporary Practice of Business Architecture
Traditional Execution-Level Business Architecture versus Strategic Business Architecture
Strategy and Enterprise Architecture
The Role of Strategic Business Architecture in Strategy Execution
Strategic Business Architecture as a Bridge between Strategy and Execution
The Role of Business Architecture in the Plan/Adjust Portfolios/Projects Stage
Project Portfolio Management
The Journey to Leverage Strategic Business Architecture for Value
Next Steps
Notes
Chapter 3: The Strategic Business Architecture Toolkit
Defining Qualities of Strategic Business Architecture
The Scope of Strategic Business Architecture
Leveraging Strategic Business Architecture for Decision-Making
The Strategic Business Architecture Knowledge Base and Views
Key Strategic Business Architecture Views from Strategy to Execution
A Closer Look at Key Strategic Business Architecture Views
Bringing It All Together: Component Applicability across Strategy Execution
Next Steps
Notes
Chapter 4: Leveraging a Capability Perspective for Strategy Translation and Alignment
The Capability Perspective Closes the Gap between Strategy and Execution
The Role of Value Streams and Capabilities in Translating Strategy
Enhancing Strategy Execution Techniques with Strategic Business Architecture
Informing Strategic Options
Articulating Strategic Direction
Assessing the Impacts of Strategy
Assessing Capabilities
Defining Coordinated Business Change
Shaping Portfolios/Projects
Aligning Strategy and Execution
Leading Change through Strategic Business Architecture
Next Steps
Notes
Chapter 5: Strategic Portfolio Management and Effective Strategy Execution
What Is Portfolio Management?
Next Steps
Notes
Chapter 6: Linking Strategic Business Architecture with Other Architectural Domains and Other Business Functions and Disciplines
Linking Strategic Business Architecture across the Business Ecosystem
Strategic and Execution-Level Business Architecture and the Strategy Execution-Level Disciplines
Next Steps
Notes
Chapter 7: Building the Strategic Business Architecture Function and Integration with Strategic Planning
Major Success Factors for Strategic Business Architecture
Integration with Strategic Planning and Structuring the Strategic Business Architecture Practice
Building the Right Competencies, Skills, and Staffing
Value Measurement for Strategic Business Architecture
Strategic Business Architecture as a Facilitator of Innovation
Next Steps
Note
Chapter 8: Scaling and Maturing the Strategic Business Architecture Function
Components of a Strategic Business Architecture Function
Assessing Strategic Business Architecture Maturity
Developing the Business Architecture Strategic Plan
Change Management for Strategic Business Architecture
Building the Strategic Business Architecture Career Path
Strategic Business Architecture Governance
Leadership: The Essential Element of Successful Strategic Business Architecture
Next Steps
Chapter 9: Strategy Execution Trends and the Application of Strategic Business Architecture
More Focus on Developing Executable Strategy
Alignment of Projects with Strategy
Continuous Monitoring and Adaptation
Agile Strategy Execution
Data-Driven Strategy Execution
Technology Integration and Transformation
Collaborative and Inclusive Leadership in a Digital World
Dynamic Organizational Structures
Culture of Continual Innovation
Stakeholder Understanding and Management
Enhanced Strategic Risk Management
Increased Focus on Sustainability
Increased Workforce Diversity and Complexity
The Evolution of Strategic Business Architecture as a Separate and Distinct Discipline
Strategy Execution Evolves into a Distinct Discipline
Summary
Acknowledgments
About the Authors
Index
End User License Agreement
List of Tables
Chapter 2
Table 2.1 The Major Differences between Execution-Level and Strategic Busine...
Chapter 6
Table 6.1 The Major Differences between Execution-Level and Strategic Busine...
Chapter 8
Table 8.1 Strategic Business Architecture Maturity Model Categories
Table 8.2 Strategic Business Architecture Maturity Model Levels
Table 8.3 Strategic Business Architecture Maturity Model
List of Illustrations
Chapter 1
Figure 1.1 Project prioritization.
Figure 1.2 Functional integration and alignment.
Figure 1.3 Business capabilities are the core components to all products and...
Figure 1.4 Strategy execution stages.
Figure 1.5 Strategy execution stages as a continuous process.
Chapter 2
Figure 2.1 The strategic business architecture ecosystem.
Figure 2.2 The traditional domains of enterprise architecture.
Figure 2.3 Business architecture drives the technical layers of enterprise a...
Figure 2.4 Business architecture translates strategy into actionable results...
Figure 2.5 Strategic business architecture bridges strategy and execution.
Figure 2.6 Basic strategic planning and execution process.
Figure 2.7 Translating strategy to execution.
Figure 2.8 Many organizations face an execution gap due to no shared underst...
Figure 2.9 Architecture translates strategy to execution.
Figure 2.10 Scenario planning example.
Figure 2.11 Business capabilities translate, clarify, extend, analyze, and o...
Chapter 3
Figure 3.1 Strategic business architecture perspectives and relationships to...
Figure 3.2 The strategic business architecture knowledge base and views.
Figure 3.3 The strategic business architecture ecosystem.
Figure 3.4 Capabilities are the nexus of strategy execution.
Figure 3.5 A value network example.
Figure 3.6 A value chain example.
Figure 3.7 The BMM structure.
Figure 3.8 A strategy map example.
Figure 3.9 A value proposition canvas example.
Figure 3.10 A business model canvas example.
Figure 3.11 An operating model canvas example.
Figure 3.12 An integrated business model canvas and operating model canvas e...
Figure 3.13 A value stream example.
Figure 3.14 A level 1 capability map example.
Figure 3.15 Capabilities and the business model canvas.
Figure 3.16 A business process model example.
Figure 3.17 Alignment between value streams, capabilities, and processes....
Figure 3.18 Component Applicability from Strategy to Execution.
Chapter 4
Figure 4.1 The gap in understanding between business strategy and execution....
Figure 4.2 Capabilities close the gap between strategy and execution.
Figure 4.3 Value streams and capabilities frame and align changes.
Figure 4.4 Strategy execution techniques enhanced with strategic business ar...
Figure 4.5 The golden thread: aligning strategy and execution.
Figure 4.6 Streamlining the path for strategic decision-making with strategi...
Figure 4.7 An example of articulating a clear and consistent expression of s...
Figure 4.8 An example of assessing the impacts of strategy on value streams ...
Figure 4.9 An example of holistic business impact analysis.
Figure 4.10 Two categories of capability assessment.
Figure 4.11 An example of assessing capabilities for strategic importance....
Figure 4.12 An example of assessing capabilities for strategic importance an...
Figure 4.13 Capabilities coordinate changes.
Figure 4.14 An example of translating strategy into a coordinated set of bus...
Figure 4.15 An example of value chain impact analysis.
Figure 4.16 An example of value stream impact analysis.
Figure 4.17 An example of value stream, capability, and process impact analy...
Figure 4.18 An example of defining work based on capabilities and value stre...
Figure 4.19 Capability enhancements are delivered through projects.
Figure 4.20 Strategic business architecture provides structure for holistic ...
Chapter 5
Figure 5.1 Common enterprise portfolios.
Figure 5.2 The strategic business architecture ecosystem.
Figure 5.3 A capability-based investment analysis across project portfolios....
Chapter 6
Figure 6.1 The continuum of strategic business architecture.
Figure 6.2 A summary of strategic business architecture and execution-level ...
Figure 6.3 Typical architecture involvement from strategy to execution.
Figure 6.4 Alignment of key business and IT architecture domains.
Figure 6.5 Categories of team involvement in strategy execution.
Figure 6.6 Common business functions.
Figure 6.7 Primary strategy execution disciplines.
Figure 6.8 Discipline involvement in the strategy execution process.
Figure 6.9 Linking strategic business architecture with other strategy execu...
Chapter 7
Figure 7.1 Sample stakeholder quadrant graph.
Figure 7.2 Sample capability quadrant graph.
Figure 7.3 Overlap area between key stakeholder and core capability value me...
Figure 7.4 Strategic business architecture informs strategic planning.
Figure 7.5 The positioning of strategic business architecture.
Chapter 8
Figure 8.1 Key components of a strategic business architecture function.
Figure 8.2 Strategic Business Architecture Maturity Model.
Figure 8.3 A sample of strategic business architecture career path options....
Figure 8.4 Key focuses of strategic business architecture governance.
Figure 8.5 Influence is multifaceted.
Guide
Cover
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Foreword
Preface
Introduction
Begin Reading
Acknowledgments
About the Authors
Index
End User License Agreement
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Praise for The Execution Challenge
“All businesses must maintain their relevance in ever-changing market conditions and do so with greater confidence that their chosen strategy can be realized. Too often, companies have a disconnect between their strategy and their change investments, compromising their operating plan and financial performance. Cameron and Kuehn promote a well-researched, comprehensive, educational insight into the essential discipline of strategic business architecture that provides the red thread between strategy and execution, ultimately helping organizations succeed in their chosen journey.”
—Peter Elsdon, Head of Strategic Transformation Planning, Strategy Office, A.P. Moller-Maersk
“In today's complex, fast-changing environments, effective strategy execution is not just about the ‘what,’ but also the ‘how.’ Cameron and Kuehn provide a practical, insightful, and invaluable guide, offering proven techniques to translate ambitious strategies into coordinated action and momentum. For an emerging leader, they provide the tools that allow you to create a path forward, helping you navigate the execution challenges with agility, structure, and organization. For seasoned leaders, they provide a compass prompting a reevaluation of established practices, fostering adaptability and better decision-making, and encouraging a culture of continuous improvement. A must-read for executives, strategists, and business leaders who seek to bridge the gap between strategy and successful execution.”
—Jessica Saba, Pharm. D., MMGT, BCGP, Director, Business and Operation Strategy Realization, Highmark Health
“Based on a career that included business leadership in three Fortune 500 companies, leadership of a multibillion-dollar private family-owned company, and growing up in a smaller family business, I developed a passion for business leadership and strategy. I saw good strategy development with less-than-stellar execution. As a business leader, I believe you actually start by developing good business execution processes in the organization before you start strategic planning. Once you have them in place you can step back and develop clear strategies. After that, you link them together. Once you have this in place it can be very powerful.
Many well-formulated strategies fall apart without strong organizational buy-in and the transformation of ideas into action. This book provides a fresh approach into the ‘how’ of strategy with a focus on execution. This comes down to the strategy process, and the book presents great tools and techniques to develop and execute great strategies. Move this one to the top of your reading list!”
—Rick Merluzzi, Executive Vice Chairman, Metal Exchange Corporation
“Strategy without execution is meaningless. Yet, many companies are so focused on strategy that they forget the most important part of strategy is execution. The business environment has never been more volatile and unpredictable, making execution more critical than ever. While the business challenges of successful strategy execution are well known, I believe the playbook for how to do it is not well developed in most organizations. In The Execution Challenge, Cameron and Kuehn provide an indispensable guide for how to link strategy with the organization's capabilities and deliver it through the entire value chain. The Execution Challenge is a practical, real-world framework to understand and manage complexity. This book is a must-read for business leaders, strategic planners, and managers at all levels who must lead their teams and organization through change.”
—Brad Smith, Vice President, Portfolio Management, Innovation and Insights, CJ Schwan's
“As part of our mission to drive innovation in graduate business programs, the Graduate Business Curriculum Roundtable was pleased to sponsor a recent study by Brian Cameron and Whynde Kuehn to investigate how, if at all, strategy execution is taught in these programs. The study found that most strategy execution/implementation courses focus heavily on the human and organizational elements of strategy but do not discuss in any real detail how to translate or execute strategy or manage ongoing changes to it. This book squarely addresses that gap with a comprehensive approach to strategy execution that links the project execution layer with business strategy and keeps them aligned as organizations evolve in today's dynamic landscape. The Execution Challenge should be considered part of every graduate business curriculum and is a must-read for business leaders of today and tomorrow.”
—Jeff Bieganek, Executive Director, Graduate Business Curriculum Roundtable
“The translation of a winning strategy into a superior performance is perhaps one of the greatest challenges of organizational leaders in today's ever-changing corporate arena. How do we help our people maintain razor-sharp focus on strategy execution amid so much organizational complexity? Cameron and Kuehn help us bridge the gap between strategy formulation and execution—how refreshing it is to have such an in-depth exploration of the ‘how’ of implementing strategy successfully!”
—David L. Dinwoodie, Center for Creative Leadership; Coauthor of Becoming a Strategic Leader: Your Role in Your Organization’s Enduring Success
“Despite years of research and strategy methodologies, many organizations continue to be challenged in strategy execution to achieve their strategic outcomes. The Execution Challenge: Delivering Great Strategy at Scale aims to bridge this gap and comes at a time when effective strategy execution will not be just for business performance, but for future survival. Cameron and Kuehn provide invaluable insights and a pragmatic approach, drawing from extensive experience and organizations successfully embracing their teachings to fill the gap between strategy and execution. For strategy executives navigating today's complexities, this book is indispensable.”
—Kartik Ravel, Head of Value Realization, N.A., Fujitsu America, Inc.
“In The Execution Challenge: Delivering Great Strategy at Scale, Cameron and Kuehn provide an expert playbook for effective strategy execution, with a focus on proven, real-world implementation. In the intricate dance between vision and reality, strategy execution wields the conductor's baton. This book not only reveals the notes but also teaches us how to orchestrate them into a symphony of success, something that has been missing in other books about strategy. In the current volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA) landscape, Cameron and Kuehn introduce strategic business architecture, the missing link in ensuring the successful realization of organizational strategies.”
—Jenn Hood, HR Transformation PMO Director, UGI Corporation
“The Execution Challenge provides keys to businesses and leaders who want to move from a ‘ready, fire, aim’ approach to ‘ready, aim, fire.’”
—Miranda Meyer, Director of Strategy Management and Chief of Staff, Health Insurance Company
“This book is a must-read for leaders who are looking for a proven, pragmatic approach to executing business strategy. The often missing ‘line of sight’ linkage between strategy and tactical execution becomes visible when you leverage the practical frameworks and techniques outlined in this book.”
—Tanisha Fitts, General Manager, T. Rowe Price
“Cameron and Kuehn offer the tools to make a strategic plan that is actionable—not merely theoretical. This book provides a way to navigate the tension that is inherent in developing a concept and its execution at once. Most strategic plans morph along the way to implementation—if they even make it that far—so much so that the end result may have little in common with the vision. Using their strategic business architecture, organizations can create an integrated, comprehensive way forward that leverages the best of their teams, talents, and opportunities.”
—C.J. Wise, Senior Vice President, Finance & Strategy, New York Center for Child Development
“When I started reading this book, I could not stop. It effectively addresses the strategy to execution gaps using strategic business architecture. With my experience in strategy, business architecture, and agile project management, I am excited to see the practical, straightforward, and easy-to-consume methods presented in this book. In my opinion, if you follow these methods, you will be able to execute your strategy successfully.”
—Mulanga Machaba, Strategist, Leading Financial Institution in South Africa
“As a leader, I am always striving to add more tools to my skill set to drive better strategic planning and execution. The Execution Challenge is a must-read for all leaders looking to close the gap between strategy ideation and execution excellence. Cameron and Kuehn provide clear visibility to the challenges of strategy execution and how to keep leaders focused on coordinated efforts to deliver strategy execution at scale.”
—Shawn T. Condon, Chief Operating Officer, Schuman Cheese
“The Execution Challenge represents a superb resource for business executives. It distills in simple but powerful, deep-rooted strategic principles the drivers that allow organizations to deliver on their value propositions, hence paving the road to wealth creation and long-term economic growth. A must-read for any current or aspiring business leader.”
—Jose Eduardo Salgado Ballesteros, CEO, Curfimex S.A. de C.V.
“Brian Cameron and Whynde Kuehn break through the philosophic and high-level strategic concepts of transformation and provide practical insights on how to operationalize these initiatives by leaning on business architecture as the consistent thread. A one-of-a-kind primer, here is a book that serves to make us wiser digital transformation leaders.”
—Jessica Carroll, Chief Experience Officer, Acuative & Institute for Digital Transformation Fellow
“One of the keys to effective strategic delivery is the ability to ‘see’ the big picture and translate aspiration into meaningful action. Well-executed business architecture paints that picture. Joining the dots across complex organizations and systems enables everyone within them to see and do things differently, harnessing the real power of shared vision-aligned collective effort. This book provides a practical ‘how-to’ guide to creating strategic business architecture, which effectively links delivery to purpose at scale.”
—Jacqueline Ambrose, Head of Change, The University of Sheffield
“If you're in search of a guide to achieve successful strategy execution, then The Execution Challenge is the book you need. This insightful read has it all, bridging the gap between developing a solid strategy and effectively executing it. It provides a clear road map, highlighting the benefits of establishing a strategic business architecture function and integrating it with strategic planning. Along the way, it demystifies the application of the most effective strategy frameworks and tools. Additionally, it offers an organizational assessment tool that allows readers to evaluate the maturity of their existing strategy execution processes. Whether you're an executive, strategist, or simply curious about strategy execution, The Execution Challenge is a must-read for you!”
—Deborah Billingham, Organisational Change Professional, Western Power Corporation
“This is the book I would have loved to have on my desk as a strategic and transformational leader. Executing on the strategy is one of the biggest challenges business leaders have, and this book gives a great perspective on how to include strategic business architecture to maximize execution capabilities. Great book.”
—Lene Østerberg, CEO and Founder, Linconomy
“The authors have identified the natural dichotomy that occurs between organizational strategy and execution. While many others have written about the development of business strategy, Cameron and Kuehn have focused on techniques to ensure successful implementation of those strategies. Followers of this work will be seen as key delivery enablers.”
—Gary Buck, Global CIO, Retired
“Everyone in leadership understands the importance of developing strategic goals within their organization. Unfortunately, the majority of leaders never successfully execute such strategies. This book will stand apart from all the other leadership books that you own, as it illustrates challenges from traditional thinking and explores new approaches that can get you closer to effective strategy development and execution. In leadership, there are no excuses, just results!”
—Aaron Parker, Manager, Labor Relations, Amtrak
“In leading a scientific/technically focused function within a large biotech and medical device corporation, a major challenge has been evolving the organization to address expanding internal product portfolio needs and external environmental drivers (customer and regulatory requirements). Urgency often demands a targeted response to the immediate need, with limited consideration given to optimization of resultant department architecture, transactional processes, or true cohesive strategy to drive effective service delivery and execution. This book offers a very thorough foundation in the relevant theory, development of actual applications, and ultimately distillation into practical actionable frameworks to address performance. The authors' depth and breadth of expertise on how to build a cohesive strategy and translate it into coordinated execution is clear and obvious, as is their true commitment to sharing this knowledge for the benefit of clients and readers. I'm sure you will find the same as you delve into this book.”
—David W. Eaker, Ph.D., DABT, Vice President, Corporate Preclinical Development and Toxicology, Becton Dickinson (BD)
“Successfully transforming an organization is about having the ability to adapt, pivot, and transform organizational DNA and culture. We need a mechanism to pool our cross-functional experience and skills to collaborate on dealing with whatever crisis arises, be it financial, technological, environmental, regulatory, or health related. The Execution Challenge gives us that mechanism by articulating the comprehensive journey from strategy formulation through its seamless execution.”
—Peter Cully, President, Association of Change Management Professionals ANZ, Inc.
“The Execution Challenge: Delivering Great Strategy at Scale transcends the conventional boundaries of strategic literature, emerging as a seminal guide that masterfully navigates the translation of intricate strategy into tangible outcomes. Where existing discourse on strategy execution often finds itself ensnared in the dichotomy of theory versus practice, this work stands out for its thoughtful exploration of the alchemy required to transform meticulously crafted strategy into harmonious, impactful execution. The authors imbue this book with an abundance of wisdom and practical advice, offering a treasure trove of insights for both seasoned strategy execution practitioners and those aspiring to mastery in this domain. It serves as an indispensable toolkit, designed to streamline efforts, mitigate conflict, and foster a productive dynamic that guides every step from strategic ideation to its pragmatic realization. This book promises not just to educate its readers but to equip them with the means to effect meaningful business impact through strategic excellence.”
—Suleiman Barada, President, Lebanon Chapter at the Global Innovation Institute
“The Execution Challenge is a must-read for current and future leaders. It serves as the how-to we need on implementing the business architecture framework, the true secret to strategic success. This thought-provoking body of work will be helmed as the guide for leadership teams who strive to take their corporations to the next level. It bridges the gap between premier strategy and profitable execution. Cameron and Kuehn's research creates a powerful body of work and shows just why they are the ones to watch and learn from in the field!”
—Rosa Barringer, United States Air Force, Retired
“Every business should be in the business of growth—and growth requires not only clear strategic vision but a framework to align every individual in the organization toward the goal. The Execution Challenge delivers a brilliant and comprehensive road map for businesses of all sizes to deliver on even the most ambitious, far-reaching strategies.”
—Eileen Love O'Donnell, Founder and Co-CEO, Odonnell Company
“Many companies strategize but struggle to translate their plans into transformative outcomes. The Execution Challenge breaks this pattern, delving deeper to address the vital connection between the execution layer and business strategy, while adeptly managing ongoing changes. It not only showcases expertise but also demonstrates a dedication to offering a thorough understanding of strategy execution, thus ensuring projects stay aligned with overarching business objectives in dynamic environments.”
—Jackie Parkinson, Senior Global Enablement Manager, Technical Pre-Sales, Adobe
“In a world where strategic execution can mean the difference between success and stagnation, The Execution Challenge: Delivering Great Strategy at Scale emerges as a vital compass for leaders navigating the complexities of corporate and IT strategy. Having served as both a Chief Strategy Officer (CSO) and Chief Enterprise Architect, I've witnessed firsthand the challenges and imperatives of aligning strategy with execution across vast and varied teams. Coauthors Brian Cameron and Whynde Kuehn have masterfully distilled decades of experience into an insightful guide that demystifies the oft-overlooked art of strategy execution. Their pragmatic approach, blending strategic business architecture with actionable frameworks, is a beacon for those aiming to translate visionary strategy into tangible outcomes. This book not only equips leaders with the tools to bridge the perennial gap between strategy development and its execution but also fosters a culture of alignment, agility, and innovation.”
—Raymond Bordogna, Chief Enterprise Architect, WPP
“Effective strategy execution is crucial for every organization's success and its ability to adapt and thrive in today's dynamic and disruptive business environment. However, many organizations struggle to bridge the gap between strategy and execution, facing challenges such as time-consuming planning processes and disconnected teams and tools. The Execution Challenge helps us reimagine a better way. With its comprehensive approach to strategy execution, it demonstrates how to establish continuous alignment from strategy to execution in a transparent, cohesive, connected, and efficient way—enabled by a holistic view of an organization. The Execution Challenge is an instant classic on strategy execution—and essential reading for anyone serious about delivering strategy and transformation at scale.”
—Geeta Pyne, SMD, Chief Architect, TIAA
“The Execution Challenge represents a much-needed paradigm shift from business to IT alignment into an evolution and mindset of execution and realization. Business leaders and technologists globally will find a gripping real-world approach, decomposing business architecture as a business to execution practice through the enterprise strategic lens. Readers will find pragmatic composition of internal and external factors and considerations to scale ‘go dos’ for target state capabilities and continuous achievement of the business results.”
—Pamela Wise-Martinez, MEM, Author; Inventor; Executive Director, Global Head of the Enterprise Architecture, Whirlpool Corporation
“Brian Cameron and Whynde Kuehn present an effective solution to the challenge faced by executives in all industries to bridge strategy and execution and activate change needed continually in twenty-first-century organizations. This captivating book is a gift for leaders at all levels to not only deliver a great strategy but also scale it to grow and transform their organizations. This is not just a book but a manual containing step-by-step practical tools. A reader will be able to implement the tools right away by utilizing the tips and tricks from the lifetime work of the authors with deep expertise in the exciting and ever-growing field of strategic business architecture. Highly recommended!”
—Guru Chadha, SVP Business Architecture, Citi
“The Execution Challenge provides a pragmatic view into concrete ways for how to achieve enterprise strategy plans. Where strategy formulation and change journey management set the stage, the drama of enterprise transformation plays out in the programs and projects where strategic execution occurs—or fails. My 30 years of transformations taught that lesson through hard learnings in the field. As disruptive technology change now compels leaders to set new strategies and execution challenges to meet, this practical guide is vital for new and experienced change agents alike.”
—Patrick Engelking, Vice President of Business Architecture & Transformation, Advantage Solutions
“How well companies, both large and small, can execute great plans will increasingly become a survival factor. This requires translating big ideas into blueprints for successful change implementation. Brian Cameron and Whynde Kuehn offer actionable ways of cracking the code to the how of strategy execution.”
—Juliane Berger, Head of Business Architecture, Allianz Commercial
“As a proponent and practitioner of business architecture for more than two decades, I am thrilled to read Brian Cameron and Whynde Kuehn articulate such a pragmatic and applicable approach to strategy execution. Their delineation of business architecture across strategic and execution tiers provides valuable insight for organizations struggling with the optimal placement of their business architecture practice. Moreover, the tools and logical steps outlined in this book will empower business architects to derive value across various strategic, value stream, or capability levels. The Execution Challenge also tackles head-on, the organizational hurdles associated with harmonizing business transformation, technology, and architecture functions when executing strategy.”
—Harminder Blackburn, Head of Enterprise Business Architecture, Liberty Specialty Markets
“Execution is the most difficult, yet least understood and documented phase of any major transformation program. This comprehensive work, based on direct experience, is the skeleton key to making the complex simple and delivering the right outcomes in a controlled manner via strategic business architecture. It shows not only how but why certain approaches are necessary and aptly places often confused transformation concepts that can otherwise create early communication challenges.”
—Steve Carter, Head of Business Architecture, Insurance Company in AUSPAC
“Business architecture plays a critical role for organizations that want to differentiate themselves amidst competitors, enhance their operational performance, and innovate on a large scale. However, many organizations fail to leverage the full potential of business architecture by limiting its role to an execution level within their enterprise architecture practice. To unlock exponential value, organizations need to embrace strategic business architecture as well. This book provides a comprehensive guide to establishing both strategic and execution-level business architecture, along with practical steps to bridge the gap between the two. Aspiring and experienced business architecture professionals alike will find immense value in this insightful read.”
—Kavitha Narayanan, VP, Head of Business Architecture, Large Financial and Insurance Company
“During the two decades I have worked in strategy, business architecture, and portfolio management, the debate has unfortunately been more about who does what and when, and who decides and who is right, rather than collaborative value creation. In The Execution Challenge, Brian Cameron and Whynde Kuehn shed light on how to execute strategy, while prioritizing shared objectives and coherence across functions. Then ‘who does it’ is no longer at the center of the debate because strategic business architecture provides a mindset and a way of connecting the dots across the strategy execution continuum that transcends individual roles. Their pragmatic and agile approach, complemented by a brilliantly presented step-by-step maturity assessment tool, allows you to target exactly where to start within your organization. This guide, devoid of technical jargon and dogmatic concepts, is pertinent to all leaders and practitioners across the strategy execution continuum, and I am confident that it will positively influence the success of our organizations.”
—Amélie Régimbal, Senior Advisor in Organizational Transformation and Strategic Business Architecture Leader, Desjardins Group
“One of the questions I've been asked frequently as an educator, coach, and consultant in business architecture and leading strategy formation is, ‘How do we actually do this work, practically speaking?’ We've been able to convey the ‘why’ and the ‘what’ of business architecture and strategy planning in our teaching over the last decade—making the case, laying out the conceptual, and then hoping to use our skills with the models to navigate through blockers and achieve real benefit.
Now, with The Execution Challenge, we've been given the unequivocal ‘how.’ My esteemed colleagues, Brian Cameron and Whynde Kuehn, have created the literal recipe book to instruct practitioners in the daily work of executing to deliver the strategic intentions of the organization using business architecture and other tools. With the why and what as the backdrop, they have brought us the step-by-step guidebook for how, which I think, if followed in earnest, will lead to new opportunities for predictable success for both the practitioner and the organization.”
—Linda Finley, Founder and President, The Twin Cities Business Architecture Forum
“The making of strategies and their actual execution are interdependent processes. The Execution Challenge acknowledges this interdependence—highlighting the importance of aligning business architectures with the competitive and/or cooperative nature of the underlying strategy. The authors demonstrate the importance of design to sustain strategy, including cooperative ventures where interactions and capabilities associated with value cocreation are promoted. Execution is an essential part in understanding how single organizations are or can become part of evolving networks and emerging ecosystems.”
—Lars Huemer, Professor of Strategy, BI Norwegian Business School
“Ineffective business books merely present content. Good business books introduce new subjects. Great business books explain the reasons behind things. Exceptional business books inspire us… . This book is one of these! This is a must-read for all executives, entrepreneurs, business leaders, and academics looking for answers and aiming to understand the intersection between technology, strategy, business models, and exponential growth.”
—Javier Tovar Márquez, Professor INALDE Business School, Speaker, and Business Consultant
“The authors of The Execution Challenge offer a simplistic case for change by hitting on the shortcomings of traditional methods, then progress into how to determine the comprehensive change required to make strategies successful—from people, process, information, and technology lenses. Their insights on achieving horizontal enterprise alignment and informing strategic planning are truly groundbreaking, offering a path forward where before it seemed like an abstract ideal. I firmly believe that this book has the potential to create a paradigm shift in how organizations approach strategy translation and redefine the field for architecture innovation.”
—Amy Browning, Strategic Business Architect, CBA®
“In the journey of achieving meaningful purpose, the path from strategic vision to tangible results is an exhilarating adventure. It begins with a steadfast commitment to execution. The Execution Challenge: Delivering Great Strategy at Scale equips you with a powerful toolkit, forged from real-world experience, to bridge the gap between strategy and execution. These audience-friendly strategic business architecture tools can be seamlessly customized to fit your industry and organizational culture.
As you embark on this transformative voyage, remember your why—the driving force behind your aspirations. With this book as your compass, chart a course toward how—the practical steps that turn vision into reality. Are you ready to conquer the execution challenge? Dive in, embrace the journey, and make your strategy soar!”
—Lindsey Funair, MMGT, Global Business Architect, Orbia Connectivity Solutions (Dura-Line)
“Executive-level strategy oftentimes gets lost in translation as it is disseminated across the enterprise, and attempts to align ongoing work with this strategy are hopeful at best. The Execution Challenge: Delivering Great Strategy at Scale addresses this existing gap in an easy-to-understand way. In my many years of experience, I have never seen a set of stepping stones to define the path from strategy declaration to appropriate project prioritization, initialization, or shutdown. In the past, we have learned about strategy development, portfolio management, solution delivery, etc., which all seem to come up short, but utilizing business architecture as described in The Executive Challenge seems to fill that void. This is a must-read for all levels of management.”
—Kurt Nelson, Enterprise Architect, The Boeing Company
“An overwhelming majority of businesses fail at strategy execution. Why? Because they lack the ability to turn their strategy into a coherent, actionable, and manageable plan for change, where everyone is on the same page. That's where strategic business architecture can provide the golden thread, linking the vision for what an organization wants to be with a clearly defined path to get there. Going beyond your standard business strategy book, The Execution Challenge also tackles the important topic of business education, taking the conversation to a new level. For companies to develop the muscle they need to survive in today's uncertain and complex business ecosystems, leaders need the know-how to reliably turn vision into reality. This highly pragmatic approach to solving strategy execution challenges provides current and aspiring leaders with that knowledge.”
—Darryl Carr, Editor, Enterprise Architecture Professional Journal
The Execution Challenge
Delivering Great Strategy at Scale
Brian H. Cameron
Whynde Kuehn
Copyright © 2024 by Brian H. Cameron and Whynde Kuehn. All rights reserved.
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To the bold leaders and visionaries who dare to think differently and have the courage to drive change and shape a new tomorrow. We hope that this book provides you with the tools and perspective to make lasting change.
Brian Cameron and Whynde Kuehn
Foreword
The late Stephen Covey once said, “Most leaders would agree that they'd be better off having an average strategy with superb execution than a superb strategy with poor execution.” Similarly, noted authority Michael Porter observed that more than 80 percent of organizations do not successfully execute their business strategies and that in 70 percent of these cases, the reason was not the strategy itself but bad execution.
In my four-plus decades of work as a professor of strategic leadership and an active consultant to organizations around the world, I can attest to both sets of observations. I have experienced first-hand that it is far easier for organizations to create a strategy than it is for them to implement it.
Even in business schools, we teach courses on strategy formulation and courses on strategy implementation/execution, but typically they are separate courses, with the latter being more focused on leadership and change as opposed to devising an architecture to make a strategy real, implementable, and measurable. That architecture for implementation has long been a missing link in the field of strategy.
I first met Brian Cameron more than 30 years ago when I was Associate Dean for Executive Education at the Smeal College of Business at Penn State. Brian became a valued member of our staff and helped us to incorporate newly developing technologies into our management processes. We stayed in touch as his career unfolded, and I followed his work as it evolved into a focus on business architecture in which technology played a role, but strategy execution was the goal. Brian introduced me to Whynde Kuehn, and the two of them impressed and engaged me with their approach to strategic business architecture and to creating “lines of sight” that directly link strategy development to strategy execution.
In The Execution Challenge, Brian and Whynde present a handbook for strategy implementation with strategic business architecture as the enabling platform. Throughout the book, they share their tested approach to strategy execution, beginning with an explanation of strategic business architecture as a discipline, then unveiling an array of approaches, frameworks, tools, and assessments that enable readers to understand and apply the discipline to strategy execution in their own organizations.
The authors share their experiences, both as contributors to the establishment of strategic business architecture as a proven discipline and also as consultants who have helped organizations globally to create the crucial “line of sight” processes linking strategy with execution. These processes have enabled those organizations to evolve their strategies from ideation, through well-designed and coordinated projects, into well-defined results.
Creating the capacity to execute has long been the missing link in the strategy process. This book bridges that gap, showing us how to create the connection between strategy development and strategy execution. The authors provide us with a road map for how to turn the promise of strategy into the reality of results.
Dr. Albert A. Vicere
Smeal College of Business
The Pennsylvania State University
Preface
My over 20-year journey with strategy execution evolved as I moved into strategy-oriented IT leadership roles and, more recently, through my ongoing research and work with enterprise and business architecture groups and strategic planning groups in a variety of organizations and industries. I started this journey with the indoctrination that direct alignment between business and IT strategy was the “holy grail,” but I also saw that this alignment was not happening in most organizations and I began to explore why this was the case. At the same time, I ran across a quote from Michael Porter stating that 80 percent of organizations fail to execute their business strategy, which was consistent with my experience. I also saw that in many of these organizations, the failure of IT to align with business strategy was often blamed as a primary cause of this failure to execute strategy. I asked myself if this was the real root cause of the strategy execution problems or something more. My conclusions offer a pragmatic and proven approach to strategy execution and alignment that challenges some of the traditional literature and thinking.
In short, direct alignment between IT and business strategies is not possible for reasons we will discuss in detail in this book. An interim “Rosetta stone” alignment mechanism is needed for effective and sustainable alignment over time—this interim mechanism is the core business capabilities of the organization. We will discuss in detail how business capabilities form the foundation of the “strategic business architecture” of the organization and provide the foundation for effective strategy execution and ongoing strategy alignment.
During this journey, I uncovered the emerging discipline of strategic business architecture and the many modeling approaches and tools that fall under this broad umbrella that enable the in-depth organizational understanding needed to develop the enterprise-wide perspectives that are critical for creating (and maintaining) line-of-sight linkages between business strategies and tactical execution (typically in the form of project portfolios). The development and usage of these perspectives made so much sense that I assumed that the strategic planning profession has a similar approach and set of tools for facilitating effective strategy execution but perhaps called it something other than strategic business architecture. After talking to many people in the strategic planning profession and exploring what the strategic planning professional organizations had to offer, I learned that no such comprehensive approach to strategy execution exists, though pieces are referenced from time to time when discussing strategy execution. It was clear to me that a marriage between strategic business architecture and strategy execution would be the “holy grail” that many in the strategy execution arena were searching for—but I wanted to test out my findings a bit more before doing something like writing a book.
Next, I did a few things in parallel to get additional input and validation. First, I developed and launched an online graduate course in strategic business architecture that focuses on utilizing the practice of strategic business architecture as a driver of effective strategy execution. I started this course at Penn State in 2018 as a required course in our online enterprise architecture and business transformation master's program and as an elective course in our online MBA program and online master's in strategic management and executive leadership master's program (this master's program is populated with many strategic planning–related executives). The course started with 25 students from the enterprise architecture master's program and has grown to two offerings per year with more than 125 students per year, over two-thirds of whom come from the online MBA program and online master's in strategic management. The strategic planning people who take the course tell me that it is what they have been searching for—a pragmatic approach to the how of strategy execution. As a result of this course, several students have received job offers from their strategic planning organizations to bring a strategic business architecture perspective to their strategy execution efforts.
Many students have asked if we could provide a series of short courses that they could have others in their organizations take to get everyone thinking along the same lines and “singing from the same sheet of music,” as not everyone can take a 15-week graduate course. In response to these requests, we developed an executive education short-course series that will launch in fall 2024.
As I saw the popularity of the graduate course grow, I became an advisor to the Business Architecture Guild® and emphasized the importance of framing the discipline of business architecture primarily around strategy execution. I also attempted to bring the main professional organization for strategic planning people together with the main business architecture professional organization. As I learned, professional organizations have established revenue models and are often reluctant to collaborate as it may mean a change in or potential disruption to their revenue models. I quickly realized that this route was unlikely to go very far.
It was around this time that I came to know Whynde Kuehn. We realized that we were two kindred spirits and saw the untapped potential for the application of strategic business architecture practices to enable effective strategy execution. Our discussions led to several collaborations, including this book.
I also suspected that part of the problem with the issues plaguing strategy execution was the manner in which the topic was covered in most graduate business programs. I decided to explore how strategy execution was taught/approached in higher education at the graduate level. My hypothesis was based on my experiences and was: “If strategy execution was covered in a curriculum, it was done at a high-level that focuses primarily on the what and why of strategy execution with very little detail on the how.” The how is hard and often messy. I organized a research study sponsored by the Business Architecture Guild and the Graduate Business Curriculum Roundtable to explore this question. Whynde and I collaborated on this study. We discuss the results in detail in this book, but the bottom line was that my hypothesis was correct: We found mostly lip service on strategy execution with no detail on how to effectively align project-level execution with business strategy (and keep them aligned over time).
The findings of this study reminded me of a story told to me during an international consulting engagement: Two bunny rabbits were not happy and wanted to change their lives. They were always running from predators that wanted to eat them, and life was not good. They went to the Oracle at Delphi and said: “Oh, mighty Oracle, our lives are horrible. Everyone wants to eat us, and we can't go on this way. Can you help us?” The Oracle thought about it for a few minutes and responded, “Become hedgehogs—they have hard exteriors and nobody wants to eat them.” The rabbits were very happy and started to leave the temple when one rabbit said to the other, “Exactly how to we become hedgehogs?” The other rabbit said, “I don't know. Let's go back and ask the Oracle.” The rabbits went back to the Oracle and said, “Oh, mighty Oracle, exactly how to we become hedgehogs? The Oracle responded, “That's execution, I only do strategy.”
The client was sending me a message—they expected more than a high-level strategy with no pragmatic means to execute/implement. Unfortunately, this story resonates with far too many people. The how is hard, and often it's just given lip service.
This book is the next step in the journey. It provides pragmatic and needed perspectives on the issues that have plagued strategy execution for decades and provides a proven, pragmatic approach to creating (and maintaining) a line of sight between high-level business strategy and project-level execution. Without this line of sight, effective strategy execution will remain incomplete and elusive.
—Brian H. Cameron
I have had the honor of working with organizations all around the world, from the largest global organizations and governments to start-ups and nonprofits. Regardless of size, industry, sector, or location, they were challenged by the same thing: the inability to execute strategy well. I witnessed a big gap between the high-level direction of strategy and the coordinated execution at scale required to turn that direction into action. I realized that no matter how brilliant a strategy or business model may be, it doesn't matter if an organization can't make it real.
I fell in love with this gap and helping organizations to bridge it by building a new capacity for change—for turning strategy into reality. In our connected, digital world of constant change, I can't think of anything more important for our organizations, institutions, and societies to survive and thrive.
As a systemic thinker grounded with a background in science, I have always been drawn to holistic approaches. It led me to the discipline of strategic business architecture for which I have become a recognized global thought leader and advocate, and a cofounder of the Business Architecture Guild. I have also been one of the pioneers who has leveraged this discipline for enterprise-wide strategy execution and transformation at a massive scale.
Through my experiences, I also realized the power of thinking holistically and intentionally about strategy to execution as a process. I saw how a process and purpose could bring teams together to build a brand-new muscle: the capacity to execute strategy and create organizational agility from top to bottom. I have been truly inspired by what is possible, and how bold leadership and a new mindset can entirely change the way an organization works.
But throughout this journey, I have relentlessly asked: Why? What are the root causes of the strategy execution challenge and why does it exist so ubiquitously for organizations? There are countless strategic management frameworks, disciplines, and techniques that are intended to address these issues—and the investment globally in adopting agile methods for delivery is staggering. So, why is there still a gap between strategy and execution?
