Strategy is not a screensaver

This engineering consultancy has what many firms would envy: a glossy statement at the top. Polished, aspirational and in trendy typeset.

The trouble? It just didn't stack up.

To staff, it felt like it was written somewhere else, for someone else. Too timid in some regards, too unrealistic in others. It didn't connect with daily projects. It didn't explain how teh skills of the team would be leveraged and so it didn't inspire.

In fact, the most common response wasn't resistance. It was a shrug.

That's when we stepped in.

We don't scrap strategies for sport. Far from it. In this case, the intent was sound, but it was tangled. Wooly at the edges, hollow in the middle. What did it actually mean for project delivery and focus? For HR? For product development? For the structure, culture and systems within the organisation. It needed to be rebuilt as something people could use, not just admire.

Strategy: same ambition, sharper edges

By consulting through the organisation, we pressure tested the big themes against the reality.

The skeleton of the strategy stayed, but we reweighted the emphasis. Adjustmenst were made so ambition met feasibility and we linked metrics and specifics back to the firms values, making the connections explicit rather than implied.

Systems: translating words into practice

We worked with teams to show how strategic goals cascaded into tactical and operational choices, defining which levers mattered most and where the points of intervention were. When we defined how progress could actually be measured staff suddenly saw how the day to day fitted with the bigger plan.

Story: everyone in the frame

We rewrote (not the meaning) but the message. Jargon out and clarity in. The strategy became something people could repeat in their own words and see themselves inside. That's which shifted the strategy from an abstract idea into a living story.

Culture: modelling matters

The biggest unlocker: behaviour.

The exec team committed to not just telling the story but to living it. That meant showing up consistently, welcoming challenge, and making feedback a visible part of how decisions were made. For staff this was evidence that their contribution mattered.

The Defankle effect

Clarity and cohesion sparked fresh momentum. People who felt sidelined were now included and values weren't wallpaper, they were a yardstick for behaviour and routine. Most importantly, the stratgey stopped being ornamental, unlcoking growth and shaping decisions from the board room to operations.

If any of this resonantes, please shout! We're all about unlocking innovation full potential in engineering and technology companies doing cool stuff and we'd love to hear from you!