HBR Guide to Managing Strategic Initiatives

INTRODUCTION

Putting Strategy into Action

You have an exciting day ahead. At 9:00 you’re leading a cross-department brainstorming session to generate new ideas for what your company needs to do to get ahead of regulatory changes that are coming to your industry. At 10:00 you’re sitting in on a bimonthly group that reviews the progress of the dozen innovation projects your department is running. And at 1:00, you’ll be presenting the business case to your unit leaders to spearhead a pilot program to make your company culture more friendly to working parents.

All three of these are examples of strategic initiatives, and your schedule is full of them. Each meeting is with a different team that has been assembled specifically for this task. Perhaps ...