How adoption will determine the lifecycle of the strategy

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Strategies have a lifecycle with four stages: genesis, designed/approved, fully adopted, and outdated. These stages are non-linear — context shifts, wrong diagnoses, or organizational resistance can push a strategy back to any earlier phase at any time. Adoption itself progresses through five levels: awareness, understanding, buy-in, commitment, and advocacy. The author proposes a phased people-involvement model: start with 3–5 influential people to validate the problem, expand to an ad hoc group of 10–15 to shape and approve the strategy, then broaden to the teams needed to execute it. A key insight is that involving the right people before approval speeds up adoption later. The post also warns that when a strategy succeeds, its methods — including unsustainable ones like overwork — can become embedded in company culture.

The strategy lifecycle and adoption. Post I