makes the difference in business transformation

Why execution

Ask an executive team how a transformation is progressing and chances are the answer will be positive. Ask the management layer responsible for delivering that change and you will often hear a different story. That gap fascinates me because it reveals something I see in almost every major transformation: organisations lack the ability to execute. 

Change is the only constant in most organisations. Plans are continuously developed, investments are made and innovations are announced. With technological developments moving at an unprecedented pace, transformation sits high on the agenda. The question is: what happens after the strategy has been defined? The organisations that stand out are those with strong execution capability. 

Technology is often already in place. The ambition is there too. Yet change does not always gain momentum. That is because transformation ultimately depends on something far more human: decision-making, ownership, leadership and collaboration. 

Too often, transformation is approached as a programme with a clear start and end date. As though change is a project that can simply be planned and rolled out. The reality is that organisations change because people make different decisions, take on different responsibilities and work together in different ways. Not because a different strategy has been written down. 

Many organisations underestimate how much effort it takes to embed a new direction in day-to-day operations. Leaders believe the direction is clear, while managers are still searching for practical guidance. Teams know something needs to change, but they do not yet fully understand what is expected of them. That is where delays emerge. 

Anyone who takes business transformation seriously should therefore ask how strategy becomes visible in everyday behaviour, responsibilities, decision-making and collaboration. 

You may have a clear vision for the future of your organisation. But if employees do not feel empowered, if decision-making remains slow or if teams do not know how they can contribute to change, the impact will remain limited.  

This also places different demands on leaders. Leaders do not need to have all the answers. They need to be able to provide direction in uncertain circumstances and place responsibility lower in the organisation. At the same time, they must stay connected to execution. That requires trust in people. Trust that teams can make decisions themselves. Trust that not every decision needs to pass through multiple layers of management. Trust that mistakes are part of progress. In practice, that trust is what makes execution capability possible.

Giving people trust is not without conditions. If individuals are free to make decisions, something else must ensure those decisions do not pull the organisation in different directions. Organisations that place ownership lower down need an equally clear understanding of what they stand for. 

That understanding cannot remain static. An organisation that changes course often requires behaviours that differ from those encouraged by its current culture. Values that suit a cautious, hierarchical way of working can become obstacles when greater speed is required. In those situations, it is not enough to simply tell people to make their own decisions. People need a compass that evolves alongside the strategy, not a set of values that was defined years ago and has been sitting on a website ever since. That is why I do not see identity and execution as separate issues. Execution capability is created not only by giving people the mandate to act, but also by providing a shared understanding of who the organisation wants to become. 

The debate around business transformation is focused on the organisation of the future: new business models and, of course, AI. These are important topics, but ultimately transformation comes down to a more fundamental question: can organisations turn ambition into action? 

That is why I believe strategy and execution cannot be separated. A strategy only has value when it becomes visible in practice. The organisations that will succeed in the years ahead are those that can make decisions faster and mobilise more quickly than their competitors. Not the organisations with the most impressive plans.