Problems we solve · Strategy not executing
Everyone agreed the strategy. Then nothing changed.
The town hall went well. Months later, teams are busy, priorities have barely moved, and the leadership team is explaining the same strategy again.
What’s Really Happening
Strategy can stall when the organisation has no clear way to translate intent into choices about work.
Nature abhors a vacuum, as the saying goes. When communication falters, people make assumptions but when you have hundreds of assumptions, they pull against each other and, ultimately, the company’s intended direction.
A 20-minute conversation. No pitch.
01 / Recognition
You may be hearing yourself say…
01
“Different leaders tell different stories about the same initiative.”
02
“Teams are active, but I can’t connect the work to any result.”
03
“Our reviews are all milestones, utilisation, and status.”
04
“We keep adding priorities without stopping anything.”
Different symptoms. The same underlying question: how does strategic intent become a decision about what happens next?
02 / Diagnosis
Agreement needs to survive contact with the work
A strategy can be clearly presented and still leave important choices unresolved. We test both the strategic assumptions and the system expected to deliver them.
The Central Problem
People cannot make consistent trade-offs if they have different interpretations of success and no shared way to resolve them.
When information is unclear or missing, people fill the vacuum with their own interpretations, rumours, and suppositions. These then pull against the intended strategic execution.
01
Surface agreement, different assumptions
Leaders agree the words but interpret their implications differently. Functions then pursue competing versions of the same strategy.
02
No mechanism for saying no
New priorities join existing commitments. Capacity is divided across work that no longer has equal strategic value.
03
Broadcast without translation
Managers hear the ambition but lack the decision rules, authority or context to apply it to their work.
04
Activity mistaken for progress
Reviews reward milestones and utilisation while leaving the intended business outcome untested.
Repeating the message may help understanding. It cannot settle an unresolved choice about priorities, resources, or ownership.
03 / Intervention
Make the strategy as it is visible, then connect it to the work.
We help you communicate the strategy clearly and connect it to consistent decisions about the work.
01
Establish where execution breaks
We examine what leaders and teams believe the strategy means, what work is actually in flight, and where priorities collide. You get a written view of the gaps and the decisions needed to close them.
02
Resolve the choices behind the slides
We work with leadership on what matters most, what can stop, and who decides when commitments conflict. If the strategy itself needs testing, we make that explicit.
03
Build a working connection
We agree specific outcomes every fortnight and establish a review rhythm that connects work to results. We might use OKRs to clarify outcomes or Wardley Mapping to test assumptions. The method follows the problem.
The objective is a leadership team that can keep strategy and execution connected as circumstances change.
04 / Typical Engagement
What working with us looks like
Clear expectations. Defined outcomes. Accountability on both sides.
01
Diagnostic first
We start with a short, structured assessment. We agree scope, duration and executive involvement upfront. Complex work may need a longer assessment; we explain why before you commit. Executive involvement is kept as light as possible but will be more for more complex scenarios and may be front-loaded.
02
Two-week outcomes
We agree a three- or six-month direction, but commit to specific outcomes every fortnight, working with the people sponsoring and delivering the change.
03
Commercial alignment, not just day rates
We combine a baseline fee with payments linked to agreed outcomes. We take responsibility for our delivery, and put our mistakes right at our cost. Your commitments and dependencies are agreed upfront, so accountability works both ways.
04
Senior on every engagement
Every engagement is founder-led, with direct senior involvement throughout. Where specialist expertise or additional capacity is needed, we bring in trusted people with the right capabilities. You retain a single point of accountability.
05
Your strategy stays yours
We bring diagnosis, challenge, and intervention. Accountability for the strategic direction of your business remains with your leadership.
05 / Evidence
What this looks like in practice
Case Study
From internal activity to customer outcomes
Shell Recharge Solutions
Between 2020 and 2023, Shell Recharge Solutions grew its headcount sevenfold while integrating into a global parent. Yet customers were waiting over a year for home chargers. Teams were busy, but progress was limited.
A ten-week discovery exposed the underlying constraint: no effective mechanism connecting strategy to delivery. Specialist teams operated in silos, each managing its own backlog, with no shared basis for prioritising work around customer outcomes.
The intervention established customer-facing outcomes for each value stream, connecting day-to-day decisions to strategic priorities. Teams gained a clearer basis for deciding what mattered, what could wait, and what to stop.
Client Perspective
“The biggest shift was moving from internal activity to customer outcomes.
“By introducing Flow and OKRs, we were able to focus on what actually improved the customer experience, not just what kept teams busy.”
Hannes Rupprecht
Head of Public Charging Value Stream for Europe
Additional Sector Experience
Capital markets · Insurance · Fintech · EV charging · Telecoms · Data centres
06 / FAQ
Questions people ask
Only if OKRs are useful in your situation. We first examine how priorities, decisions and work connect. If the main gap is an unresolved portfolio choice or unclear decision rights, we address that rather than adding another goal-setting process.
We start by testing what prevented the earlier approach from working: how work is selected, how conflicts are resolved, and what people are rewarded for. Any method we introduce needs to fit those conditions and help change them.
We help leadership teams test and sharpen their strategy where needed. We also make its implications for priorities and execution explicit. Ownership of the strategy and accountability for business direction remain with your leadership.
The initial diagnostic is typically two to four weeks, with scope and timing agreed before we start. Early outcomes may involve resolving a deferred decision or stopping competing work. We agree what constitutes progress in your situation rather than promising a fixed time to business results.
The relevant question is whether execution crosses enough teams and functions for priorities, ownership and decisions to become difficult. We assess fit through your situation and access to the people who can act, rather than a headcount threshold.
We combine a baseline fee with payments linked to agreed outcomes. This creates commitment on both sides while keeping the commercial focus on results rather than activity.
If we miss an agreed outcome through our own fault, we put it right. Where delivery depends on information, decisions, or commitments from your organisation, those dependencies and their commercial implications are agreed upfront.
We can also consider bespoke arrangements, including fees linked to measurable savings or other commercial benefits.
07 / Next Step
Tell us what’s stuck
A 20-minute call with Toby Corballis about your situation. Not a pitch, a demo, or a discovery call delegated to someone junior.
We’ll follow up with a short written view of what we’ve heard and where we’d look first.
There’s no proposal unless you ask for one, and “not now” is a perfectly good outcome.
Prefer email? [email protected]
Or call +44 (20) 8088-5705