Strategy: Don’t Forget Operations
There’s a pattern I’ve seen too often.
The board wants a strategy refresh.
The executive team books an offsite.
Slides are built. Words like transformation, alignment, innovation, synergy get thrown around.
A beautifully structured document emerges.
And then it quietly dies in operations.
Not because it was a bad strategy.
But because it forgot the people who actually make the business work.
Strategy Should Be Built on Reality, Not Assumption
Strategy is not aspiration alone.
It is data.
What do we have?
What is working?
What is broken?
Where are we wasting effort?
Where are we outperforming?
And the richest data source in any organisation is not the boardroom. It is operations.
The team on the ground already knows:
The workaround that keeps the system afloat.
The process that looks good on paper but fails in practice.
The unofficial solution that actually delivers results.
The gaps customers complain about daily.
The capability the business has quietly developed but never recognised.
If strategy is written without this insight, it is incomplete.
If it is incomplete, it is unrealistic.
If it is unrealistic, it will not be executed.
The Top-Down Trap
Top-down strategy development creates three critical risks:
Misaligned Priorities
Leaders may target the wrong problems because they lack operational visibility.Overlooked Capability
Teams often build systems, expertise, and efficiencies that executives don’t even know exist.Unintentional Disengagement
When teams are told “Here’s the new direction” without being asked for input, the message received is:Your knowledge wasn’t required.
Your experience wasn’t relevant.
Your insight wasn’t valued.
And then we wonder why execution feels forced.
Strategy Without Operations Is Theory
Operations is not the “delivery arm” of strategy.
Operations is the proof of strategy.
If strategy says:
“We will improve customer experience.”
Operations knows:
Which touchpoints break.
Which systems cause delays.
Which teams are overloaded.
Which customers are most frustrated.
Which solutions have already been tested.
If strategy says:
“We will grow market share.”
Operations knows:
Where demand actually exists.
Where we’re over-servicing low-value work.
Where competitors are winning.
Where internal bottlenecks slow expansion.
Without that ground truth, strategy becomes conceptual.
And conceptual strategy rarely survives contact with execution.
Strategy Is a Collective Discipline
The people carrying out the work will ultimately carry out the strategy.
If they were not included:
They won’t feel ownership.
They won’t feel accountable to something they didn’t shape.
They won’t feel trusted.
In contrast, when teams are included:
They see the bigger picture.
They understand the trade-offs.
They contribute practical insight.
They challenge unrealistic targets.
They help shape measurable outcomes.
And most importantly:
They become part of the solution.
Don’t Just Consult Empower
There’s a difference between:
“We consulted operations.”
“We built strategy with operations.”
Real inclusion looks like:
Workshops that surface operational truths.
Structured feedback loops before final decisions.
Open challenge sessions where assumptions are tested.
Cross-level strategy working groups.
Transparent sharing of constraints and board expectations.
And then:
Mentoring teams to think strategically.
Sharing the vision clearly.
Trusting their expertise.
Respecting their lived experience.
Challenging them to help build the future.
You employed them for a reason.
Use their expertise.
Engagement Is Not a Soft Benefit It’s a Performance Lever
When teams are excluded, they feel:
Unengaged.
Unappreciated.
Undervalued.
Disconnected from purpose.
When they are included, they feel:
Seen.
Trusted.
Respected.
Invested.
Engagement directly impacts:
Productivity
Innovation
Accountability
Retention
Quality of execution
Strategy success is not just about direction.
It is about mobilisation.
A Practical Model: Strategy From Both Ends
Instead of purely top-down planning, consider a dual-track approach:
1. Top-Down Clarity
Define vision.
Define financial constraints.
Define non-negotiables.
Define risk appetite.
Define board-level outcomes.
2. Bottom-Up Insight
Map what is actually happening.
Audit what’s already working.
Identify bottlenecks.
Identify duplicated effort.
Surface innovation already happening.
Quantify operational realities.
Then integrate both streams.
That’s where real strategy lives.
Strategy as Alignment, Not Instruction
A strategy document should not be a directive handed down.
It should be an alignment tool:
Here is where we are.
Here is where we want to go.
Here is why.
Here is how we get there together.
If operations help build it, they help defend it.
If they help defend it, they help deliver it.
Final Thought: Respect the Expertise
Strategy is about data.
And the people doing the work hold data that dashboards never show.
Trust them.
Challenge them.
Mentor them.
Bring them into the room.
Because a strategy that forgets operations doesn’t fail in the boardroom.
It fails on the ground.
And that’s where it truly matters.