McKinsey published a great study on how companies often fail to allocate resources appropriately to strategic initiatives, even after spending a lot of money on the strategy development. Those companies who do put their money where their strategy is enjoy significant bottom line benefits. So, why do so many fail? McKinsey’s report concludes that: “…the failure to pursue a more active allocation agenda is a result of organizational inertia that has multiple causes. We’ll focus here on cognitive biases and corporate politics, but regardless of source, inertia’s gravitational pull is strong—and overcoming it is critical to creating an effective corporate strategy.”
Inertia! We have seen this operate negatively over and over during change process. It often comes down to fear of the unknown (loss aversion) and a reluctance on the part of middle management to take risks. One way forward involves taking clear, small focused steps to overcome the inertia. Of course, without adequate funds allocated to support new initiatives and strategies, they are unlikely to succeed.