Chapter 8

Strategy Execution

Capitalize on What Your Organization Already Knows

If you have read this far, then you are well aware of the value of being able to effectively leverage networks of stakeholders to your advantage and theirs. You know of the wealth of information that companies' broader ecosystems contain and are generally eager to share. You are also aware that it takes a disciplined process for this information to be converted into knowledge and for that knowledge to be transformed into actionable strategy. You also know how social media tools can help companies make all of this happen. But what about strategy execution? How does social media convert actionable strategy into executed strategy?

This aspect of the social media engagement process is critical. Mark Fuller, chairman of Monitor Group, tells me that in his experience, most chief executive officers (CEOs) are less worried about strategy formation and more concerned about its execution. Fuller is in good company. Thomas Edison, who said, “Genius is 1 percent innovation and 99 percent perspiration,” would have agreed. Fuller attributes 80 percent of strategy implementation failure to the friction that exists along the edges of interactions between individuals, departments, business units, regional operations, and the C-suite and the rest of the organization. Social technologies can reduce this friction, providing companies with an unprecedented opportunity to improve the way that they work. How are they able ...

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