Strategy Design vs Strategy Delivery – P1

Brightline and Project Management Institute launched a training course for executives to bring 10 key principles to their attention to help them succeed in the delivery of their strategy, not just its design. The topic itself always interests me. It is one of the reasons why I did my Masters in managing Innovation and organisational change. What I liked about this course is that it brings many case studies that triggers the thinking process and with it the learning.

The course is well structured and can be easily paced over the recommended 5 weeks. Well, this is the perception I have from looking at the curriculum. I am only into week 2, so will keep an eye on my perception as the training progresses. Brightline PMI developed these 10 principles which are publicly available for download. You can check the link at the bottom of this article and download your copy.

I will be publishing my takeaways from each of the principles as the training progresses. So make sure you enter your email and hit the subscribe button:

For now, the first principle is the foundational principle for all of the other 10. It is essential for you as an executive and a leader to fully understand and commit to. It is the beginning of your journey to success. So what is principle 1?

Principle 1: Acknowledge that both design & delivery are equally important

The training does not start directly with the 10 principles. The very first module is designed to emphasise on the gap between design and delivery. The reasons behind the gap and the potential causes for it. The module highlights what Philips, PMI, and the China India Institute do to address this gap. If this diverse global set of businesses does not wet your appetite, am not sure what will. I won’t be sharing my insights here as I do not want to take away from your journey. All I can say is that when you listen to all leaders from these organisation, you will end up with some common gaps, factors that will contribute to shortening the gap, and some pointers on how they deploy their strategies.

Principle one is mainly aimed at the awareness factor. Isn’t there a saying that goes something like: acknowledging a problem is 50% solving a problem? This principle focuses on just that. It underpins the concept that for ideas to transform to actions that result in added value, leaders must acknowledge that for a strategy to be valuable and meaningful, it does not need to look good. It needs to look good and also make good sense. Business leaders must ensure they have a process in place to constantly review and evaluable their business’ capability to deliver the strategy.

In my own experience, principle 1 in Brightline is the core concept of PDCA as a Quality Professional. That is plan do check act. That continuous cyclical process to plan, do and check the work and make adjustments as they arise is an important concept. And Brifghtline do focus on Accountability and Transparency.