🔄 This article is a repurposed extract from Get S#!t Done—a short book of real-world lessons for leaders lifting innovation capability inside complex organisations.
A good strategy is only useful if people know how to act on it. And innovation only works when it is aligned with the direction the business is actually heading.
It sounds obvious. Yet many organisations still treat strategy and innovation as two separate things. One lives in the PowerPoint. The other lives in the pilot.
The leaders I spoke with are changing that. They are building a clear connection between ambition and action, between long term goals and day to day delivery. Innovation is not something that sits beside strategy. It is one of the primary ways strategy comes to life.
Strategy is not separate from innovation
Strategy sets direction. Innovation helps you move toward it when the path is not yet clear.
When the two operate in isolation, problems appear quickly. Innovation teams chase ideas no one is prioritising. Strategy teams build roadmaps no one can execute. Both sides become frustrated, and momentum stalls.
The strongest organisations weave strategy and innovation together. Strategy provides clarity on what matters. Innovation provides the learning, experimentation, and movement that turns intent into progress.
Alignment does not mean control. It means shared understanding. People at every level know what the organisation is trying to achieve and how their work contributes.
Learn from the front line
Several leaders spoke about shifting from a transformation mindset to a learning mindset.
Instead of treating strategy as a fixed destination, they treated it as a living conversation. Learning was not a byproduct. It was the point.
In those organisations, teams were rewarded not just for outcomes, but for insight. What did we learn? What changed? What surprised us? That shift unlocked adaptability. People became more willing to test, share, and adjust because learning itself was valued.
When learning is incentivised, innovation becomes safer and more effective.
Strategy is a conversation, not a poster
Strategy loses power when it is communicated once a year and then forgotten.
The most effective leaders treat strategy as a drumbeat. Something that is revisited regularly to guide decisions, shape trade offs, and reset focus. Innovation teams play a critical role here. They translate strategy into action, and they surface where the strategy no longer matches reality.
This does not mean chasing every shiny idea. It means pursuing value with intent. Innovation efforts are strongest when teams can clearly explain how their work links back to strategic priorities the business actually cares about.
Innovation should shape strategy too
The flow does not go in one direction.
Innovation teams are often closest to emerging signals. Shifts in customer behaviour. New risks. New opportunities. Weak signals that have not yet reached the boardroom.
If innovation is working well, it should be informing strategy, not just following it. That requires trust and open channels between teams and leaders. Not just reports, but relationships.
Strategy that listens lasts longer.
Reflection prompts
- Can your team clearly explain how their work connects to strategy?
- Do your incentives reward learning, or only delivery?
- Are innovation insights feeding back into strategic decisions?
- How often do you refresh the story of where you are going and why?
🔄 This article is a repurposed extract from Get S#!t Done—a short book of real-world lessons for leaders lifting innovation capability inside complex organisations. Register now for your free copy 👇🏻