How to Communicate a Strategic Planning Framework

🐄❓What do an obscure US senator from the 1930s and a cow named Bessie have to do with communicating your strategy? Maybe everything! S.I. Hayakawa, an under-the-radar U.S. senator and scholar from the 1930s, gave us one of the most practical tools for communication I’ve ever seen: the Ladder of Abstraction. It’s a simple concept that can transform how you get your point across. Here’s how it works: At the top of the ladder, we have abstract ideas—like “freedom” or “success.” As we climb down, those ideas become more concrete, turning into examples we can see, touch, or imagine. This is where Hayakawa's example of Bessie the cow comes in. Imagine describing Bessie as simply “a farm animal.” Pretty vague, right? But if you move down the ladder, she becomes “a cow,” and even further down, “Bessie the cow who lives in the barn behind my house.” It’s suddenly more specific and relatable. The Ladder of Abstraction helps us choose the right level(s) of detail based on who we’re talking to and what we're trying to convey. So how does this relate to your business strategy? When you're communicating a big idea, like "improving operational efficiency," it might sound important, but without coming down the ladder, it’s too abstract to act on. The clearer you get—say, by stating a need to reduce customer service call times by 20%—the easier it is for your team to understand and execute, particularly when they can also see up the ladder to understand the “why.” The key to the Ladder of Abstraction is knowing when to start big and abstract and when to get specific so your message hits home - and vice versa. If you stay too high, your ideas feel distant. Go too low too soon, and you lose the bigger picture. Finding that balance is key. Key insights: 🔑 Start with the big picture strategy, but anchor it in specifics that guide action. 🎯 Tailor your communication for both strategic thinkers and the boots on the ground. 🪜 Use the Ladder of Abstraction to clarify your strategy at every level of your organization. Anyone else leveraging this technique? I’d love to hear how you’re using the Ladder of Abstraction to bridge the gap between strategy and execution! #communication #strategy --- ✨ Follow Mistere Advisory for more tips and insight. See the comments for links on the Ladder of Abstraction

Your brilliant idea just got rejected by your VP. Was it the idea... or how you presented it? While at Uber I regularly worked with and communicated with senior execs. The core thing I discovered is that effective communication boils down to 3 key principles: 1. Lead with Impact → Start with your conclusion or key ask → Frame everything through the lens of business value → Use "executive summaries" - 2-3 sentences max for key points 2. Structure Creates Clarity → Follow the "Why → What → How" framework → Present options, not problems → Include clear next steps and ownership 3. Adapt Your Delivery → Match their communication preferences (email/Slack/face-to-face) → Be prepared with data to support your points → Focus on metrics that matter the most to the business Instead of finger pointing or saying "We’re not hitting our roadmap goals" Try: Ask: I need your approval by Friday to prioritize SSO and audit logs in Q1. Here’s why:  -- These features will unlock $5M in enterprise opportunities - our top 3 prospects cite these as blockers, representing 60% of our pipeline.  -- Implementation cost: $200K, projected ROI within 4 months based on current close rates.  -- Can we discuss this for 15 minutes in tomorrow's leadership meeting? Make it concise, researched, and with a clear ask. What communication strategies have worked for you when engaging with senior leadership? Share your thoughts below!

I've seen this movie play out countless times. Leadership retreats to a cabin for a weekend, emerges with a beautifully formatted strategic document, presents it at an all-hands, then wonders why nothing changes. When we started using EOS at Sauceda Industries, I realized we'd been doing it all wrong. We'd been confusing documentation with direction. Real alignment isn't about comprehensive coverage—it's about relentless simplicity. Here's what I've learned works instead: 1. Distill your strategy to one page. Not as an exercise in brevity, but as a test of clarity. If you can't fit it on one page, you don't understand it well enough. 2. Make it stupidly actionable. "Grow revenue" isn't a plan. "Call our top 20 customers this quarter to discuss expanding their programs" is. 3. Repeat it until you're sick of hearing yourself. As a leader, you need to say the same thing about 7 times before it finally sinks in. When you're bored of your message, your team is just starting to get it. Your team isn't waiting for a comprehensive document. They're waiting for a clear direction they can actually remember when they're in the trenches making decisions. The test is simple: Stop a random employee in the hallway and ask them what the company's top priority is right now. If they hesitate or give different answers, your strategic plan is gathering digital dust. Simplicity isn't just about communication. It's about survival. In a world of constant distraction, the clearest signal wins.

Senior leaders carry a silent burden: Strategic responsibility. Most strategies don’t fail in the planning phase. They fail in translation. Not just setting vision. But aligning execution. Building leaders. Sustaining momentum. And here’s the insight most overlook: Strategy only works when your people carry it. Not understand it. Not agree with it. Carry it. 🧠 72% of strategic initiatives fail (McKinsey). 🧠 Only 16% of frontline employees understand company strategy (HBR). That’s not a communication issue. It’s a leadership one. If your business strategy isn’t backed by a leadership strategy, it’s a gamble. Want it to stick? Do these 5 things: 1️⃣ Translate goals into behaviors. Don't just say “prioritize innovation.” Clarify what innovation looks like at each level. 📌 Tip: Use behavioral anchors in strategy rollouts; tie each priority to 1–2 observable team behaviors. 2️⃣ Build leaders who can make decisions under pressure. Strategy means nothing if your managers freeze in the fog. 📌 Tip: Run “battle drills” (what if) leadership scenarios, practice decision making with time pressure, tradeoffs, and limited info. 3️⃣ Make ownership obvious. When it's unclear who’s driving what, execution slows. 📌 Tip: Assign one clear owner per initiative and review progress in weekly team check-ins, not quarterly reports. 4️⃣ Incentivize behaviors, not just outcomes. You can’t drive strategic change by measuring the wrong actions. 📌 Tip: Tie performance reviews to behaviors that reflect your priorities, not just deliverables or numbers. 5️⃣ Audit alignment quarterly. Most organizations revisit strategy once a year. That’s too late. 📌 Tip: Schedule quarterly strategy audits to identify misalignment early and recalibrate execution. The best leaders don’t just talk strategy. They engineer execution. Comment Below: How do you make strategy real for your team? ♻ Repost if you want to lead with more clarity and less chaos. I’m Dan 👊 Follow me for daily posts. I talk about confidence, professional growth and personal growth. ➕ Daniel McNamee

Change isn't the problem—your silence is. Remember: your strategy is useless if your people don't understand how to help you deliver it. A simple framework for communicating through change looks like this: 1. What? Tell them what has changed. Be concise and direct to make sure everyone understands exactly what's changing. Most organizations stop at #1. 2. So What? Next, explain the relevance. Why does this change matter? Connect the dots between the change and its impact on your people, whether it's new opportunities, improved processes, or overcoming potential challenges. 3. Now What? End with action. What comes next? What do your people need to do? Make sure you're providing clear guidance on what needs to be done, who is involved, and any deadlines. This turns the message from information to action. Obviously, any #changemanagement exercise is highly context dependent. But by applying this formula, and repeating it over and over and over, you'll have a much better chance of actually delivering on your strategy. #internalcomms leaders: how do you think about helping teams and leaders navigate through #change? #ChangeManagement #StrategicCommunication #Leadership