The Golden Thread: Linking Strategy to Execution

Recently during a conversation with an executive I heard a term used to describe strategy execution that I’d never heard before, but it made an impression on me.  He was discussing a challenge he faced within his own environment - the challenge of strategy execution.  His statement was, “We need the golden thread that links our strategy to execution initiatives.”

I liked the image this conjured up in my mind.  What he was describing was the middle layer of planning, referred to as “operational planning”.  Operational planning is the “golden thread” linking strategy to execution and is way too undervalued in my opinion.  Because operational planning all to often is not done well, or is overlooked altogether - this article describes ways to inject operational planning into the strategic planning process and string the “golden thread” through all of the execution loop-holes.