CIO Dashboard

Mobilization: The Missing Link between Strategy and Execution

post by Chris Curran on February 16, 2012
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Murphy’s Law states that anything that can go wrong will. Too many companies fail to anticipate the bumps in the road and to assign leaders who are ultimately accountable for keeping projects on task and budget when the inevitable hiccups happen. As a result, organizations often blow deadlines, overspend and backtrack because they skip the crucial stage: mobilization.

Mobilization connects strategy and execution. This is the step where top-performing companies set plans and budgets against the overall strategy and create a playbook for execution before the large teams and larger costs start mounting up. It’s also the point in the process to consider what could go awry and how to adjust on the fly. It’s like a quarterback running the coach’s plays over and over in his mind before the big game and imagining how he will sidestep a sack. If he doesn’t visualize the attack and exactly how he will respond, he could easily exit the field in defeat.

We recently conducted our Digital IQ survey of 489 companies across industries with annual revenues of $500 million. We discovered that:

  1. 77% of top performers—companies that grew revenues by 5% or more—say they have a single, multiyear roadmap for executing the overall business strategy, but this number falls to 54% for the remainder of respondents.
  2. 67% of companies that dedicate time and resources to mobilization deliver their projects on time. For those that don’t, that number drops to a dismal 38%.

The CIO’s Role in Mobilization

Mobilization is often the missing link between strategy and execution and can mean the difference between success and failure. The role of the CIO is to make sure that their companies have a carefully thought out roadmap before implementing any large scale initiative. When something goes wrong, because it inevitably will, companies that make mobilization a priority are much more likely to emerge victorious.

Does your company treat mobilization with the same importance as the strategy and execution stages? Share your best practices below.

Image shared by Brian Smithson

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  • http://www.it-sales-leads.com/ Nadine Stevens

    It’s always good to read what you have to say Chris, thanks. When we consider mobilization in a military context, it is assembling and making our supplies ready for war.  In business, we need to be prepared and develop plans to achieve fast and effective mobilization in case inevitable hiccups happen. Thanks again.