Every leadership team we work with can tell the story of a strategy that launched well. The offsite went smoothly, the narrative landed with the board and the first all-hands drew genuine energy. Then, somewhere around week six, the work began to drift.
The second month is a stress test
Month one runs on momentum. Month two runs on structure, and that is where most plans are thinnest. Owners have been named, but nobody has agreed what they can decide without asking. Meetings exist, but they review activity rather than outcomes.
A strategy is only as strong as the first trade-off it forces someone to make.
Three things we put in place before launch
A decision log, so choices are made once and visibly.
A weekly forty-minute review that looks at three numbers, not thirty.
One named owner per outcome, with the authority to reallocate budget.
None of this is glamorous. All of it is the difference between a plan that is remembered and a plan that is delivered.
