Why most strategy plans die in week 3
The plan wasn't bad. Nobody owned it after the workshop. Three things every goal needs so your strategy survives contact with a busy week.
Most strategy plans are dead by week three.
Not because the plan was bad. Because after the workshop, everyone goes back to their inbox, and the daily work wins.
Every goal needs three things
- One owner. Not a team, not “management”. One name.
- One number. How will we know it’s working? If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it.
- One weekly check. A fixed time every week to look at the number and decide the next step.
No owner, no number, no check means no plan. It’s just a nice document.
Fewer goals, done properly
If you have ten priorities, you have none. Ask your team to name this quarter’s top three priorities. If you get different answers, that’s the real problem.
Pick three. Write them down. Repeat them every week until people are tired of hearing them.
Ask what will stop
Every new goal needs time from somewhere. Before you add one, ask: what will we stop doing to make room for it? If nothing stops, nothing new really starts.
Link the plan to the week
- Turn each goal into the first three actions, each with an owner and a date.
- Put the goal numbers into your weekly review.
- Report progress in one line per goal: on track, at risk or off track, and why.
Review monthly, reset quarterly
Monthly, check whether the actions are moving the numbers. Quarterly, decide what to keep, change or drop. A plan that never changes is usually a plan nobody is using.
Keep it simple with the free 30-minute Friday review, or read Your dashboard has 40 numbers. You need 5.
So, how might we keep our plan alive past week three?