Restoring Execution Velocity for an EV Infrastructure Leader
Client: Shell Recharge Solutions
Timeline: October2020 – May 2023
Key Tools: OKRs, Flow, Value Streams, Kanban, Lean Portfolio, Cost of Delay, Fit-for-Purpose framework
The tools used with this client were contextually designed to enable strategy to hold in place beyond mere formulation. For other clients, the Strategic Execution Diagnostic may indicate a different set of tools to be best in class for their context. This is why a period of discovery is so important.
The Strategic Challenge
Rapid Growth, Fragmentation, and Burning Platforms
Between 2020 and 2023, Shell Recharge Solutions (then called NewMotion), a fast-growing European electric vehicle (EV) charging provider, faced a perfect storm.
Demand was accelerating, competition was intense, and supply chains were fragile following the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic and the global semiconductor shortage. Customers were waiting more than twelve months for home chargers, and dissatisfaction was rising fast.
At the same time, the business was being fully integrated into a global parent organisation. Ambitious growth targets were imposed. Headcount increased sevenfold and new leaders arrived from different corporate cultures. At the start, key roles remained unfilled.
The result was predictable but dangerous: a lot of activity, very little progress, and no shared definition of success.
There was a lot happening, but nothing was getting done.
Matthias, Value Stream Lead
The Diagnosis
We were not clear on the direction. People did what they believed was right. We started a lot, but the result was chaos.
Matthias, Home Value Stream Lead
The Strategic Execution Diagnostic (Discovery period) revealed the core problem: There was no mechanism to connect strategy to delivery.
A period of Discovery that lasted 10 weeks revealed a complicated picture. Teams were busy, initiatives were everywhere, metrics existed in abundance, but the value being delivered was near to zero.
The company had evolved into specialist silos, each with its own backlog and priorities. Few teams had direct accountability for a customer-facing service. Strategy existed at the top of the organisation, but it dissolved before it reached delivery teams.
People wanted to do the right thing. They simply had no shared direction.
The organisation did not have a system for answering three fundamental questions:
- What outcomes matter most right now?
- How does this initiative support those outcomes?
- How will we know if it is working?
The gap showed that whatever the strategy, it couldn’t connect to execution.
The Intervention
Clarifying strategic direction and creating alignment
Learning the principles of Flow, the value of OKRs, and providing in-person coaching, enabled the Leadership Team to gain clarity on the strategy for the next year.
The CEO recognised the importance of starting at the top of house; after all, if senior leaders can’t articulate the strategy what chance is there that those at the coalface can execute it properly.
In this way, Objectives and Key Results were socialised from the top down, enabling the whole organisation to focus on what really mattered.
In late 2021, the business launched its first customer-aligned Value Stream, focused on home charging customers. A small, cross-functional core team was formed, drawing together marketing, finance, operations, customer experience, and transformation specialists.
Rather than starting with delivery plans, the team started with clarity.
They established:
- A shared understanding of customer purpose
- A small number of fit-for-purpose metrics
- A quarterly OKR cadence to translate strategy into execution
OKRs became the mechanism that connected all three and began the process of connecting the company-wide OKRs with those further down the strategy chain.
- Objectives expressed strategic intent
- Key Results defined measurable change and connected directly to Initiatives, creating a direct bridge from strategic intention to execution
- Initiatives became hypotheses, not commitments
This shifted the conversation from output to outcomes almost immediately.
We were not clear on the direction. People did what they believed was right. We started a lot, but the result was chaos.
Matthias, Home Value Stream Lead
Focused Transformation
From Ambition to Execution Focus
Once OKRs were in place, we could finally have real conversations about what mattered, and what didn’t
Matthias, Value Stream Lead
The Value Stream adopted a simple but disciplined approach:
- Company strategy informed quarterly Objectives
- Fit-for-purpose customer metrics shaped Key Results
- Initiatives were selected only if they directly moved those Key Results
Crucially, OKRs were not owned by individuals. They were owned by the Value Stream as a system. This made trade-offs visible, forced prioritisation, and legitimised saying “no” when it mattered.
Leadership Commitment
Making transformation real
Early on, progress was fragile. Team members would be pulled into unrelated work. Managers outside the Value Stream continued to assign side initiatives, as did stakeholders from the parent company.
This threatened to collapse the system before it had time to work.
A decisive leadership intervention followed. Two executive sponsors were formally appointed. Team members were explicitly committed to the Value Stream and a clear escalation path was created. This changed everything!
Leadership backing meant OKRs became non-negotiable anchors rather than aspirational statements.
The CEO gave me the space to build the truth and propose a way forward. That commitment made the difference
Matthias, Value Stream Lead
The Results
OKRs became the catalyst for Flow and Confidence in the Value Streams and beyond
Delay Costs Realised
Increase in quality
Additional Recurring Revenue
Within six months, the impact was tangible:
- Teams moved from overload to focus
- The organisation went from reactive work to planned outcomes
- Teams moved from local optimisation to customer value
Delivery stabilised. Learning accelerated. Trust increased.
The team moved from over-burdened and unhappy to being fulfilled and enjoying their work
Tim, Product Portfolio Manager
Measuring what matters: OKRs and customer-led metrics
One of the most significant shifts was how success was measured. The Value Stream moved away from internal, lagging indicators and towards customer-centred fitness criteria, including:
- Net Promoter Score (NPS)
- Call centre wait times
- End-to-end service performance
These metrics directly informed OKRs.
Teams could now see, in near real time, whether changes improved customer experience or simply created more internal activity.
We had metrics before, but they were about us. OKRs forced us to focus on what customers actually experience
Matthias, Home Value Stream Lead
Why this matters
OKRs as a strategic operating system
This was more than just an OKR “implementation”. It was a full-scale organisational transformation. OKRs helped close the gap between strategic intention and execution, but other tools and methods completed the picture. Overall, it was a fundamental shift in how the organisation thought about value, focus, and leadership.
OKRs worked because they were:
- Anchored in customer outcomes
- Supported by leadership behaviour (crucial)
- Integrated with Portfolio and Flow systems
- Treated as learning mechanisms, not targets
- Supported by tools and methods that made sense in the context of the organisation
The Home Value Stream became a reference model for the wider organisation. Others were launched (e.g. On-the-Go) and the tools and methods extended across the business where it made sense to do so.
Talk to us about Organisational Change and Transformation
We’re experts in closing the gap between strategic intentions and execution.
If your organisation is.
- Busy but not progressing
- Clear on strategy but struggling with execution
- Measuring activity instead of outcomes
… the right mix of tools and methods can transform your organisation into one where work flows and is delivered with predictability, not by chance.