Building a Culture of Delivery in a Strategy-Heavy Organization

Diana Andrea Fajardo
Jul 27, 2023
2 min read

Updated: Jul 18

In many enterprises, strategy is abundant—but execution is scarce. Whiteboards fill with vision statements and roadmaps, yet delivery lags behind. Why? Because a culture of strategy isn’t the same as a culture of delivery. This post explores how to bridge the gap.

Person writing on a whiteboard filled with colorful sticky notes. Text includes "Vision Statement" and "Vision Roadmaps." Bright, collaborative setting.

Strategy Alone Isn’t Enough

Strategic planning is essential—but if the organization can’t translate vision into action, value stalls. Many enterprises suffer from:

Endless planning cycles with few execution outcomes
A focus on ideation over implementation
Strategic initiatives that never leave the slide deck
Leaders rewarded for designing roadmaps—not delivering results

67%

of well-formulated strategies fail due to poor execution, according to Harvard Business Review.

Symptoms of a Strategy-Heavy, Delivery-Light Culture

Symptoms	Yes	No
Overemphasis on frameworks and methodologies
Low accountability for deadlines and outcomes
Decision-making bottlenecks
Disconnected strategy and operations teams
Project fatigue and low morale among execution teams

What a Delivery Culture Looks Like

Strategy-Heavy Culture	Delivery-Driven Culture
Plans before alignment	Aligns strategy with capacity and capability
Vision-focused meetings	Value-focused execution cadences
Execs detached from delivery	Execs sponsor, track, and enable execution
Metrics on strategy creation	Metrics on value realization
Low PMO influence	PMO acts as a strategic delivery partner

The Role of Culture in Delivery

Culture isn’t just “soft stuff”—it’s what enables or impedes action. Shifting to a delivery culture means embedding execution into how people:

Prioritize
Make decisions
Allocate time and resources
Collaborate across functions
Define and celebrate success

Elaia’s Approach to Building Delivery Culture

Elaia helps organizations operationalize strategy by instilling structures, behaviors, and rituals that embed delivery at every level.

Explore Our Services

We support with:

Strategic Alignment Workshops

We bridge the gap between leaders, strategists, and execution teams to clarify goals and delivery paths. Read More

Execution Operating Models

We design delivery frameworks that balance agility with accountability. Read More

Leadership Enablement

We coach executives on how to support, sponsor, and model delivery behaviors. Read More

Cadence & Governance Design

We install rhythms that connect plans to action—weekly, monthly, and quarterly. Read More

PMO Empowerment

We help PMOs become central to the execution engine, not just support. Read More

Case Study: Strategy to Execution at Scale

A global consumer goods company had strong visioning but weak delivery. Their PMO reported that 70% of strategic initiatives stalled midstream.

Elaia will introduce:

A quarterly strategy-to-execution bridge cycle
Executive dashboards focused on delivery metrics
PMO integration with strategic planning
Delivery charters tied to performance KPIs

Results:

41% improvement in initiative completion
Strategy lead time cut from 6 months to 8 weeks
PMO gained a seat at the executive table

Why Elaia

We don’t just help you write better strategies—we help you deliver it.

✔ Embedded delivery rituals across teams

✔ Leadership coaching to align behavior with outcomes

✔ PMO transformation to elevate execution capacity

✔ Culture-change support that sticks

When delivery becomes cultural, strategy becomes real.

Is your organization great at planning—but weak at doing?