Strategy that lands

Why How matters

“How” matters in strategy implementation. Knowing how to succeed helps your strategy land. How do we connect vision to action? How do we align the way we work to get the outcomes we seek? How do we get folks to choose us? How do we redirect money, talent, and time? How do we stop doing stuff that isn’t taking us there? How will we manage things in our way? If we want our strategy to land we need the right preparation, the right heading, good decisions and clear action.

When I take our boat out on the lake I aim for a landmark. If there is fog, I use the compass to guide me, using glimpses of shoreline to check my heading. On a longer trip I use a series of waypoints to get us there. I adjust course for reefs and slow down where the waves are stronger (It’s a big lake!). Knowing how to get there lands us on the right beach or fishing spot at the right time.

Before we even leave home, we make sure that the boat and the crew are properly prepared and we have everything we need. We also remove anything from the boat that we don’t need. All of that means that we can head out for fishing, towing toys or a picnic on a beach and know we will have a good day. We also know that if the weather changes and things turn rough, we will still get home safely.

Knowing how to succeed lets strategy land

Strategic change is a lot more complicated and expensive than a day out on a boat but there may not be as much clear thinking about the “How?”. Too often, strategy is about the “What” not the “How”. The focus is on a piece of software, a new structure, a new product, a new customer channel, not on how it will make customers happier, reduce errors, increase safety, save money or solve a business problem. The outcomes and benefits get lost in the busywork of producing the things that are supposed to get us there.

Knowing how to succeed lets you jettison stuff that makes you fail

I once ran a project where the budget, timeline and patience of users was being tested by the difficulty of creating one product feature that just one stakeholder wanted. A strong focus on a “What” threated to derail all of the “How” and “Why” in the project. I went to the Project Board and explained four things:

• The feature causing the problems was going to blow out the project budget and timeline
• The problematic feature was not part of How the project would create value
• The issue the feature was trying to solve was minor and could be addressed with a no-cost fix
• The Project Board could choose to descope that feature and have a successful project or not

The discussion at the meeting rightly focused on the desired outcome of the project and how that outcome could best be achieved. There was politics and ego involved (as is often the case) but they got there. They made the decision to descope that feature. The project ended well and no one missed the thing that was dropped. Knowing how to succeed allowed the strategy to land where stakeholders wanted.

Six tips for How to succeed in strategy

Most strategic initiatives face challenges far more complex than that simple example but the basics of achieving successful strategic change remain very similar to the preparation for a boat trip:

• Decide where you want to go, why you want to go there and how you are going to do that
• Take everything you need and get rid of everything you don’t need
• Figure out what can go wrong and how you can deal with it if it does
• Make sure there is more than one way of dealing with any serious risk
• If things change, assess the situation, make fresh decisions quickly and act on them
• Take people you enjoy being with on the journey and bring them all home safely

The “What” is the deliverables, The “why” is the outcome you want. The “How” is the approach, behaviours, culture, and solution-seeking process that gets you there. “How” matters because the strongest plans anticipate as much as possible and flex to cope with the unexpected. Experience counts getting that mix right – both your internal knowhow and our practical experience. Every strategy implementation is different but there are lessons that help you succeed.

Strategy lands successfully if you have a good idea of how it will succeed and you stress-test it well. You figure out Why and we will help with the How. If you want a new perspective on what is possible, where to start and how to get the results you need then talk to us. Strategy implementation is what we do at Hague Consulting. Please get in touch for a chat. Enquiries@hague.co.nz

Phil Guerin, Consultant/Director, Hague Consulting Ltd. © Hague Consulting Ltd 2026. If you like this content, subscribe to our blog – it’s free! 

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