Members
Member News | From Strategy Theatre to Strategic Impact
Most organisations do not suffer from a lack of strategy.
After nearly 20 years of working with leadership teams on strategy, I have reached a simple conclusion: most organisations do not lack ambition. Nor do they lack a strategy. In fact, many have sophisticated strategic plans. And impressive 500-page decks to prove it.
The real problem is that these beautiful intentions rarely leave the strategy room.
Once executives return to the business, the urgent quickly overwhelms the important. Meetings multiply, operational issues demand attention and the latest crisis takes priority. Leadership teams become extremely busy - but too often, they are simply “busy being busy”.
Strategy remains something discussed annually rather than managed daily.
It is not placed at the centre of the organisation’s operating system: how priorities are set, resources are allocated, performance is accelerated and decisions are made.
The result is a persistent imbalance between the operational and the strategic. Operational Expenditure is closely monitored, while Strategic Expenditure is often dispersed across too many initiatives (what we call the “peanut butter spread” problem). Day-to-day activities receive constant attention, while transformational programmes are repeatedly postponed. Teams report every operational piece of work, but struggle to focus on what genuinely moves the strategic needle.
This is why more strategic workshops and a thicker strategy deck is rarely the answer.
What organisations need is greater clarity around the few outcomes that truly matter, the difficult choices they are prepared to make and the limited number of initiatives capable of transforming the business.
They also need a clear execution framework that keeps strategy alive beyond the annual off-site, a rhythm that enables leaders to distinguish busyness from impact and operational performance from strategic transformation.
This conviction is why we created Strategy Reignited three years ago: to help change the way organisations think about (and EXECUTE) strategy.
Our ambition is not to produce more slides, chase the latest buzzwords or add another layer of reporting. It is to simplify complexity, sharpen choices and translate strategic ambition into practical execution frameworks that teams can understand, manage and implement.
Because strategy should not be theatre 🎭
It should be a living operating system that shapes where leaders focus, where organisations invest and what teams choose not to do.
For leaders interested in exploring this approach further, Strategy Reignited will host its 2026 Strategy Masterclass on 10 & 11 September at The Catalyst in Sandton.
More information is available here, subject to seat availability: https://www.strategyreignited.com/training-masterclass
Disclaimer:
This article is an external contribution and was not produced by the French South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FSACCI). The views, opinions, and statements expressed are solely those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the views or positions of FSACCI.
