# Face 3: The Ivory Tower - Strategy Feels Disconnected from Teams
Sound familiar?

Strategy born in the ▲ ivory tower on the left. Documents filled with all the right frameworks on the right. And in the middle? A tangle of ▲ 〰 ● disconnected rhythms that should be flowing together but aren't.

This is the anatomy of strategy disconnection. Beautiful ▲ plans crafted in boardrooms, far from the people who must execute them. The strategy looks perfect on paper—Lines, Loops, and Vibes all accounted for. But the 〰●▲ rhythm integration between the tower and the teams has been severed.

The most successful organisations don't create strategy in isolation—they co-create it with the people who bring it to life.

Target Canada seemed like a sure thing. Meticulous planning. $2.5 billion investment. Expert consultants. Yet within two years, it was gone.

Employees reported feeling "powerless to serve customers properly" while management imported American executives instead of empowering local staff. Beautiful ▲ planograms prevented workers from stocking available products, creating empty stores despite full warehouses.⁵

The ▲ strategy was brilliant. The 〰● human execution was disconnected.

"It's a great strategy - it just never left the boardroom."

You've probably felt it: the PowerPoint is impressive, the language is crisp, and yet… something doesn't land.

The team isn't acting on it.

Frontline staff are doing their own thing.

Middle managers are translating - or ignoring - the message.

And leaders are frustrated by the "execution gap."

"Why can't we get people aligned?"

Because the people who ● execute the strategy didn't get to 〰● co-create the strategy.


![Face 3: The Ivory Tower — Strategy feels disconnected from teams](/images/book/F3%20Strategy%20feels%20disconnected%20from%20the%20teams.png)

## Reframe the Rhythm
This pain point emerges when strategy is overly ▲ top-down - stuck in rigid ▲ lines.

The assumption: ▲ clarity equals compliance.

But real alignment isn't given - it's 〰● generated through participation.

This is a call to move into 〰● collaborative loops - rhythms of listening, making, testing, and adjusting together.

## The Pattern of Disconnection
The most expensive strategic failures share a common DNA: ▲ brilliant plans that never connected with 〰● execution teams.

JCPenney lost $4 billion in sales when CEO Ron Johnson eliminated beloved customer coupons without testing, declaring them "drugs customers needed to be weaned off." When asked about piloting changes, Johnson responded: "We didn't test at Apple."⁴

WeWork's valuation crashed from $47 billion to bankruptcy as employees aware of financial unsustainability were silenced. Staff who "raised concerns were usually marginalised or fired."

The pattern is clear: when strategy is ▲ proclamation rather than 〰● participation, even brilliant plans fail spectacularly.

## SAFE Activation: Co-Creation (S)
**The contrast is stark**:
Disconnected strategies: Target Canada (4B sales drop), WeWork (bankruptcy)

Co-created strategies: Microsoft ($300B to $3T growth)⁶, Haier (9% pandemic growth), ING (€1B new deposits)

When teams feel disconnected, it's often because:

They weren't part of shaping the direction

They don't see how strategy connects to their day-to-day

They were asked to "buy in" after decisions were made

SAFE reminds us: strategy is strongest when it's 〰● co-authored.

## Strategy Principle: Strategy is Co-Creation
True strategy isn't ▲ handed down - it's 〰● built together with the people who bring it to life.

This principle draws from Collaborative Innovation, Agile planning, and human-centred strategy approaches. It's not about consensus - it's about shared authorship and shared responsibility.

Haier's radical transformation eliminated 12,000 middle managers and created 4,000 independent "micro-enterprises" where employees operate as entrepreneurs. This RenDanHeYi model delivered 9% year-over-year growth during the pandemic while transforming GE Appliances from near-bankruptcy to US market leader. CEO Zhang Ruimin explains: "People are not instruments, tools, or resources, but the purpose itself."¹

If they helped shape it, they'll help deliver it.

### Field Note: You Can’t Build Strategy at the Top
I’ve met many leaders who genuinely believe this:

If they bring together their smartest three people, lock themselves in a room, and hash it out — they’ll have the strategy they need.

And sometimes, sure, that might work.

But even when it works, that’s not the point.

There are two deeper truths I’ve learned over the years that make co-creation essential — not optional.

First, from a design perspective:

Co-design is non-negotiable for complexity.

You cannot design something adaptive, valuable, or human without involving those it affects.

Second, from an economic systems perspective:

Strategy is like price — it’s not a command, it’s a signal.

And signals only work when they’re distributed.

Markets don’t live in the boardroom.

They live outside the building.

And so does your best information.

**We need all the signal data**:
From people inside the org

From people outside it

From the edge, not just the centre

Strategy built only at the top often fails at the bottom — because no one sees themselves in it.

That’s where co-creation becomes transformative.

It’s not just about better ideas.

It’s about belonging.

Ownership. Energy. Alignment.

Because strategy that isn’t executed is just noise.

And co-creation turns strategy into music people can move to — and move with.

## Framework: Collaborative Strategy Design
There's no one framework here - but the meta-framework is:

Create space for multi-level participation.

Use workshops and tools to gather insight, not just communicate direction

Treat facilitation as a strategic act.

Use design tools (maps, canvases, systems thinking) to visualise complexity.

ING Bank dismantled its hierarchy to create 350+ autonomous "squads" organised into 13 tribes, with each squad defining its own mission within broader goals. Product development cycles dropped from 18 months to 3-6 months, with smaller projects completed in 4-6 weeks. The bank added €1 billion in new deposits annually through digital channels while achieving 20% increases in active digital users. COO Bart Schlatmann noted: "We needed to build the agile mindset. This was the hardest part. It's a process that should never end."²

Designing strategy this way builds clarity from the inside out.

## AI as Co-Facilitator
AI can't replace strategy conversations - but it can enhance them:

Collect and cluster feedback from large groups.

Generate strategy drafts or vision statements from co-creation sessions.

Analyse internal data to surface gaps between teams and goals

Translate insights across departments and locations.

PepsiCo's Ada platform demonstrates AI's power to break down silos and accelerate co-creation. Named after Ada Lovelace, the system connects insights across all beverage brands and 100+ countries, cutting product development cycles from 6-9 months to just 6 weeks. The platform processes millions of social media conversations while teams collaborate on strategy, with Chief Strategy Officer Athina Kanioura reporting it now guides $900+ million in annual advertising investments.³

AI helps scale listening - but humans still create the resonance.

## Practice: The Distributed Strategy Jam
**Objective**:
**Create shared ownership and clarity across levels of your org

Agenda**:
Gather: What does "strategy" mean to us? (20 min)

Share: What's working / missing in our current direction? (30 min)

Co-Create: In small teams, ideate "If we owned this strategy…" (30 min)

Cluster: Use AI to group ideas, find themes (20 min)

Draft: Teams write 1-page visual stories of the strategy from their POV (30 min)

Reflect: What overlaps? What gaps? What feels true? (20 min)

This isn't about wordsmithing the strategy.

It's about letting people see themselves in it.

## Final Reflection
Where in your organisation is strategy being "translated" instead of lived?

What would it look like to design strategy with - not just for - your team?

Strategy doesn't scale by telling.

It scales by resonance.

Start the loop.

And bring your people in.

## References
Zhang, R. & Ruimin, Z. (2021). Haier RenDanHeYi Model: Creating Value Through Self-Management. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2021/09/haier-rendanheyi-model

McKinsey & Company. (2018). ING's agile transformation. https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/people-and-organisational-performance/our-insights/ings-agile-transformation

The Drum. (2023). How PepsiCo is using its AI tool Ada in ad campaigns. https://www.thedrum.com/news/2023/11/20/it-s-our-google-how-pepsico-using-its-ai-tool-ada-ad-campaigns

Business Time. (2013). The 5 Big Mistakes That Led to Ron Johnson's Ouster at JC Penney. https://business.time.com/2013/04/09/the-5-big-mistakes-that-led-to-ron-johnsons-ouster-at-jc-penney/

Henricodolfing. (2019). Case Study: The $2.5 Billion Cross-Border Expansion Mistake by Target. https://www.henricodolfing.com/2019/09/case-study-target-canada-failure.html

Microsoft. (2024). Digitally transforming Microsoft: Our IT journey. https://www.microsoft.com/insidetrack/blog/digitally-transforming-microsoft-our-it-journey/