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From Strategy to Success: The Impact of Culture on Operational Excellence

Writer's picture: Dimitris AdamidisDimitris Adamidis

RevOps Venture's mission focuses on the significance of processes, measurement, and technical alignment. We enable effective management and optimization of GTM strategy through methodologies, tools, and best practices. Our focus on success criteria and technical fit guides decision-making and ensures solutions align with business goals.

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According to the latest CB Insights report in 2024, approximately 90% of startups fail (based on the 483 post-mortem survey), with a significant portion occurring within the first decade of operation. Specifically, 10% of startups fail within the first year, 20% within the first two years, 45% by the fifth year, and 65% within the first ten years. Subsequently, if we start looking under the hood, we see why that's the case. Well, almost. So, a poor product-market fit is why 34% of startups fail due to a mismatch between the product and its market. Makes perfect sense, and I buy it. If this is not picking up demand with all your marketing efforts, then what's the point of continuing? You have to pivot to something else or close the shop. No wonder inadequate marketing strategies account for 22% of this failure, followed by team and HR challenges at 18%. Some others are cash flow issues, tech changes, and operational inefficiencies. 


This fails because the strategy is not operationalized properly, leveraging the company's resources or assessing what resources must be involved. Second, the strategy and operational-oriented activities are not connected with the culture. The bigger the company, the bigger the problem of turning around the culture that supports the operational activities dictated by the overall company's strategy. Yes, these things are very much connected. 


Let's start by addressing a common fallacy that companies encounter. Many executives enjoy strategizing, but it's important to remember that strategy alone is ineffective without equal attention to the intricate and less glamorous implementation task. Implementation is the essence of why we even have a strategy in the first place. It's about transforming strategic plans into tangible results and demands ongoing focus at all levels. While strategy creation is entrepreneurial and market-driven, implementation is focused on day-to-day operations that get things done.


Understanding the difference between creating and implementing a strategy is key for every company. Although they are interrelated, they involve distinct tasks. For instance, analysis and planning are crucial in executing operational plans in the strategy phase. This entails translating numbers into action across the organization and ensuring the team adheres to the set objectives. Establishing a solid framework and critical processes is vital to keep management informed about the organization's progress. Many companies create plans but fail to consistently follow or review them, resulting in a lack of progress and, eventually, abandoning goals, leading to confusion and blame. Organizational placement also plays a significant role in carrying out these activities. While strategy is primarily a top-level exercise, it is important not to misconstrue it as exclusively number crunching behind closed doors. Operational activities are equally crucial and involve processes managed by many in the organization. Talent is often overrated, and history has shown that talent alone does not guarantee success. Instead, success largely hinges on hard work, determination, and dedication. Similarly, in strategy & operational activities within an organization, the focus should be on successful implementation, given that approximately 80% of success depends on this aspect. The same principle applies to other related terms with specific activities behind them.

It's fundamental to remember that moving from strategy to implementation entails addressing various structural, personnel, and resource-related aspects. A successful strategy should revolve around a cohesive and mutually reinforcing set of supporting practices and structures, often called alignment. For businesses, alignment implies having an organizational structure that supports systems, processes, human skills, and resources while ensuring that incentives align with strategic goals.


Declaring a strategy won't get you far if you fail to align it with the many large and small things that constitute your company's operations. The operationalized strategy is a complete first step that prevents companies from failing to achieve alignment. Culture and leadership are elements of strategy implementation that need to be considered in supporting the day-to-day work. It's a missing glue that operational enforcers often are not able to achieve entirely because there is too much resistance. 


Business literature often suggests that culture is reflected in the DEI policy and biased behavior or abusive characters. Although these are usually rightfully discovered and elaboratively described, we rarely refer to the culture as a function of strategy execution. Even when that's happening, it's often connected to a group of resistant employees or managers against the new rules. The problem is much mischaracterized through this lens without proper attention to what it does for the company and what is the true reflection of the theme's intent. So, if you are a tech firm, you very likely must consider focusing on innovation and creating a culture that allows your employees to dedicate a certain amount of time to product enablement or expect the RD/ Engineering team to spend a portion of their time pursuing innovative goals like the number of features, or bugs (perhaps hackathons), or engineering intern programs. That's why Google is known for its innovative culture, allowing employees to dedicate 20% of their time to pursuing personal projects and ideas, known as the "20% time" policy. This practice has led to successful products. Google also hosts regular hackathons and encourages cross-functional collaboration between teams. While Microsoft faced criticism in the past for its forced performance curve system, the company has since shifted its focus to fostering a more innovative culture. Microsoft encourages employees to spend time on "passion projects" and hosts events like the //oneweek Hackathon, where employees can work on an innovative idea. Similar to Adobe highlighted its Global Wellbeing Program, which supports employee wellness and creativity. The company likely encourages dedicated time for innovation and product development within its engineering teams. OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, is known for its innovative culture and employee benefits that support creativity and work-life balance, such as unlimited sick and paid time off, learning and development budgets, and parental support services. Many follow a similar pattern in defining their approach to retaining high affection for the innovation process: Alibaba, Tencent, Monday.com, Canva, Iterable, Outreach, Figma, Notion, and Coda.


Similar to tech, if you are a service business like Amazon, you should focus on customer service or overall customer satisfaction. The same would be true for Costco, USAA, and Chick-fil-A. Fintech could focus on a customer-centric approach connected with agility and rapid iteration, with good examples like Robinhood, Acorns, or Revolut. 


Culture within a company encapsulates its values, traditions, and operational approach. It's a nuanced aspect that can be challenging to quantify, but it profoundly influences managerial and employee conduct. It encompasses how individuals view their workplace and the methods to achieve objectives. For instance, one company might have a highly structured hierarchy with a promotion process based on seniority and a strong emphasis on command and control. In contrast, another company may prioritize service quality and operate collaboratively, non-hierarchically.


Recognizing the value of the individuals we look up to is essential. We all have role models, whether fictional characters, sports legends, historical figures, or successful business leaders. Despite their imperfections, these role models have achieved unique success in their respective fields, and we can learn from their accomplishments. We all have the potential to make a significant impact if we receive a sense of direction. Even though role models are imperfect, they are very good at something nobody else can do well. Similar is the organizational culture, which can't be good in everything but can develop a unique ability to specialize in specific approaches that make them unique and effective at what they do. Whatever that is, it must align with our company's strategy and motivate people to work towards critical organizational goals. What we learn from that is the fact that imperfections don't matter. What does matter is that we follow the vision despite them because we want to be exceptionally good in part of the business activities spectrum. 


Conclusion: So, what does it take to change the company's culture? A leader must consider more than just employees' attitudes. Character forms the foundation of everything. This means that without a strong belief system in principles aligned with a leader's principles, it will be challenging to implement a new culture. To be clear, principles don't equal working experience or necessarily a place of origin, so let's not forget that these are two separate layers when we evaluate teams' ability to change. That's also a bottom line for personal changes in the organization. The change will be much harder to implement if principles are not aligned despite different experiences and backgrounds. Good intentions and willingness represent another dimension connected with principles, experiences, and motivation to change. This is where many make a mistake in thinking that these changes are possible while principles are not aligned. To implement a successful strategy, we must implement strategic plans to achieve results, which require ongoing attention from management at all levels. In order to retain the attention of multiple levels and the company's function, we need a set of practices and structures that work together. Alignment occurs when the organization's structures, support systems, processes, human skills, resources, and incentives support the strategic goals. That can't be done by announcing a new culture and a couple of nice slides. It's essential to have people with the required skills, resources, and attitudes to execute the strategy. Activities such as pricing, distribution, and order fulfillment should also align with the plan. The organization's structure should be designed to support the strategic goals, and the culture should be appropriate for the strategy and vice versa.


Here are a few things that every leader must keep in mind when trying to change the cultural paradigm in their organization or company:


  • Focus on identifying the key cultural aspects critical to supporting strategy implementation, such as product quality and customer focus. Address these while recognizing that not all aspects of culture can be changed simultaneously. Take your time to identify the areas that must be addressed. If you overdo it, you expose yourself to too much shaking up and worsening things, often losing a key player you might need. It may not be the most senior person or someone on your executive team. 

  • Define the desired culture. Since changing the culture is a game of patience, you must remain persistent and stay on track. Remember that culture, especially business culture, is taught. Ensure you have a plan for the culture mapping journey change once committed. People can only change when they understand. "What do you mean by getting better at making data-driven decisions?" This means something different for the HR team versus Finance. You must communicate what exactly needs to change using examples of what it means for all organizational functions. Same term but different projects and tasks that must reflect that main theme. Don't be afraid to specify how you will help your teams get where you want them to be. Remember that change starts with you, so it's your responsibility to initiate change. 

  • Operationalize your change plan. Remove the fear, and explain how people's jobs will change.  Just because someone does something a certain way doesn't mean it is not working. That goes back to the first point of what needs to be changed. After nailing the most important things to change, you must introduce a change management process because people must be aware of them beforehand. Set good practices around change management, informing people when things are changing and when the process is influenced by individuals. Now, many executives misconstrue this part of the process. They just use it to push their agenda, talking people out of their ideas. This step is exactly the opposite. Once your teams agree to change, they are the best source of how to operationalize it. Even if you don't like it, it's their project and contribution to the overall idea after initiating it. Yes, it is a two-way street. If you don't take it seriously, you make a case about your ego. 

  • Measure culture change. People are resistant to change. However, we need to know that there is resistance to change in general, to the idea or the particular things we try to change. The last one is unclear, and that's where we should focus because most resisting individuals will fall. In most cases, this is called coaching, which is often considered by managers to be a waste of time. IT'S NOT. Invest quality time with your employees. If you need to reorganize your team, do it, but don't assume you won't need to coach. You can't win this without coaching (a little hint: coaching is not as convincing someone that you are right and others are wrong). 

  • Lead by example and demonstrate the behaviors and values you want your employees to embody. Spend time engaging with customers to prioritize their needs and involve users in discussions to foster innovation. Learn from that and bring these examples through the newly defined cultural references. Make personal sacrifices, like reducing travel and entertainment expenses, before asking others to do the same. Remember, others closely observe your actions and words. They want to know if you are genuinely believing in them or just fully selling them on something that doesn't matter. 

  • To foster a commitment to change, create opportunities for employees to participate in open forums. Building a personal connection between leadership and employees at all levels is crucial. It's not about hierarchy, as many executives think. The less hierarchy you have in the direct conversation, the faster the change. 

  • Remember to take the time to acknowledge and celebrate accomplishments when important milestones are reached during the change process. Recognizing and celebrating these achievements helps to boost a positive and productive work environment.

  • Establishing and communicating high-performance standards is essential for motivating and guiding employees to achieve the desired results. By setting clear expectations and benchmarks for performance, individuals and teams can effectively align their efforts with organizational goals and strive for excellence in their work. Consistent communication of these standards fosters a culture of accountability and continuous improvement, ultimately driving superior outcomes and success for the organization. Recognize and reward individuals for their contributions in achieving the desired outcomes based on these standards. 


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