If you want to get from here to there, successfully, you need a CSO – a Chief Strategy Officer.
When my friend, Mona Mitchell, and I wrote the book “7 Elements of Strategy Success” we studied the key elements that would not necessarily ensure strategy success but that would certainly help you along the way. One of those elements was accountability.
Someone needs to own the plan.
If it is a 3-year plan for a new product launch, someone needs to own the plan. It is not good enough to create the strategy, divide up the work and hope that it will just happen. Hire someone to own it. The business can afford it and the business depends on it.
If this is a 1 year turn around plan for your own business, someone needs to own the plan. It is not good enough to think that you can make it happen, track it and measure it all on your own with everything else you have going on in your life. Hire someone or if you can’t afford that, create an advisory board that will make you accountable or help you along the way.
If this is a personal plan: a new career or a major change to your life, someone needs to own the plan. And in this case, it is YOU. First of all, congratulations for having a plan. Most people don’t. But now it is time to make it happen and your CSO is none other than you. Make sure the plan is documented. Schedule a revisit every 3-6 months. Review the plan and update as required.
Every plan needs a Chief Strategy Office.
