Enterprises are fascinating, complex systems that achieve amazing things.  As the business expands, the detail of what is happening becomes more and more obscure from the Boardroom.  Decision making gets delegated throughout the business, whether formally or just because the people on the ground feel that they have authority.  Which is great, as long as everyone is making decisions that help the business meet its goals.

Most large businesses that we work with have multiple programmes, initiatives and projects alongside their day to day operations.  Sometimes these are visible and driven from the Boardroom.  Often, however, they are local initiatives and projects driven by managers on the ground.  And they can be great projects.  Good people will do whatever they can to improve an aspect of their teams performance.  When carrying out Initiative Reviews, we usually find that at least 50% of the activity is unknown and invisible to the senior leaders in the business.  Often, projects to achieve the same basic outcome will be running in 3 or 4 different business units.

However, when looked at from a distance, there are often huge resources being ploughed into these projects.  Meanwhile, critical programmes that may define the long term success of the business go poorly resourced due to lack of funds.  This is a symptom of an organisation with weak alignment of objectives to goals.

So the challenge for leaders is to balance the enthusiasm of their best managers with the need to focus efforts on the highest priorities.  Done well, this means giving those managers bigger, more strategically important projects, developing them even further and helping to deliver the business’s ambition.