Why do circa 70% of projects and initiatives fail to deliver on their promises? This statistic has persisted for decades across Harvard, McKinsey, and BCG research.
Companies are getting pretty good at strategy. Leadership teams craft compelling visions and articulate strategic pillars. And companies have always been good at being busy and getting stuff done—tasks completed, projects underway, boxes checked. But is it the right stuff? The most critical activities that will drive execution of the strategy and therefore performance while positioning the company in the most powerful way to win.
It is the ‘right stuff’? The activities most attuned to driving performance?
The work that gets done isn’t always aligned to the strategic direction.
What’s missing is the connective tissue between strategic concepts and the work that actually happens every day. We call this the Middle Ground®—and it’s where most strategic initiatives fail.
The Middle Ground® Defined: The Middle Ground® is the critical connective tissue that acts as a filtration system between conceptual strategic thinking (“meta thinking”) and daily operational work (“micro doing”). Its purpose is to activate and align organizational effort, preserving the competitive intent of the strategy.
Today, most organizations invest adequate time developing strategy. They bring senior management together, make key strategic decisions, and produce a cohesive strategy. The strategy gets cascaded through communications. Then middle managers and frontline staff develop operational plans to deliver.
What we commonly see at this point is a giant leap from conceptual decisions that drive strategy to a planning process and lists of activity. Plans are developed with timeframes, investments, and KPIs. On the surface, this looks good. It’s trackable and accountable.
But too frequently, these plans fail to translate the competitive teeth of the strategy. They may deliver short-term gains, but without the language, framework, and mechanisms to maintain the connection between thinking and doing, the separation of activity from strategy has already begun.
The Middle Ground® is the connective tissue that sits between “meta thinking” and “micro doing.” It activates and aligns organizational effort across the whole system.
Think of it as a filtration system. Done well, it forces choice and filters out the noise—those activities that aren’t sufficiently aligned with strategy. By articulating the Middle Ground®, we preserve the intent of the strategy, especially those aspects that strengthen differentiation and drive growth.
The Middle Ground® comprises six key areas, all critical to successful execution:
These areas support each other and work together to unleash your Performance Operating System™. Each needs expert attention, skills, and investment.
And here’s what’s critical to understand: building out the plan is the foundation. Without this first step done well, everything else falls short. You cannot effectively engage people, understand the magnitude of change, establish meaningful measurement, or build institutional capability without a plan that preserves the winning edge of your strategy.
In the absence of this connective tissue, projects become entities unto themselves with separate aims but disconnected from the whole. Resource negotiations become “my project versus your project.” Team cohesion is compromised. Strategic intent is diluted and wasted effort ensues.
Giving voice to the Middle Ground® is necessary work and can be arduous. But it’s the only way to stop the unnecessary waste of effort, resources, and human potential that comes from the disconnect between strategic intent and daily execution.
Over the next several weeks, we’ll explore each area of the Middle Ground® in depth, starting with the most critical: building out the plan to preserve your competitive edge.
To solve the 70% project failure rate and bridge the gap between thinking and doing.
Building out the plan/foundation.
Is your organization strong at strategy and strong at doing, but struggling to connect the two? Ready to stop the unnecessary waste of effort and human potential? Learn how to implement your Performance Operating System™ by visiting the Ignition Institute homepage , or dive deeper into the root causes by reading about The Dangerous Disconnect and discovering How Leaders Can Build Alignment with the Middle Ground®.
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