Strategy Without Reality: Bridging the Gap Between Admin and Operations
Not long ago, I was watching a presentation from a central office leader who outlined a proposed “innovation strategy.” It was well-prepared, well-written, well-intentioned…. and incredibly complex. The slide deck included multi-phased plans, layered review structures, and governance strategies. All things that, on paper, make sense and sound reasonable.
After the presentation, another attendee from a local office raised their hand and said something that landed hard:
“This is great and all, but if we wanted to try something new, we’d just do it.”
It was a simple comment - but it cut straight to the core of a recurring problem that affects too many large organizations:
The people doing the work don’t lack ideas - they lack the funding, authority, and flexibility to act on them.
What they get instead is a maze of processes, approvals, and red tape - systems intended to “support innovation,” but often doing the opposite.
This isn’t malicious - it’s structural. Central administrative offices typically operate with more time, funding, and strategic support. They aren’t bogged down by the day-to-day, mission-critical needs that frontline staff face. Those local teams are often understaffed, underfunded, and overwhelmed.
And the core issue isn’t just about money - it’s about proximity to reality.
I’ve met countless leaders in these central roles. They’re intelligent, organized, and have built careers that rightly earned them those positions. But when they lead from a distance, they often make decisions based on— dashboards, status meetings, or consultant reports - not real-world insight.
They’re not bad leaders - they’re disconnected.
Without sufficient ground-level input, strategy becomes abstract. And well-meaning decisions start missing the mark.
As a result, local teams - the boots on the ground - begin to feel unheard. Morale drops. Resentment builds. Strategy, even when good, fails because it lacks buy-in from the people doing the actual work. Over time, the feedback loop breaks - and trust erodes.
Strong executive leaders can avoid this kind of disconnect—but it takes intention:
Spend time with frontline teams - not just during a crisis: If the only time local staff hear from leadership is during an emergency, an outage, or an audit, the relationship becomes transactional. To truly understand the boots-on-the-ground perspective, leaders need to show up, ask questions, and observe the work when things are running normally - not just when something breaks.
Build strategy with operations, not for them: Strategic direction shouldn't be something that's handed down from a conference room or consulting firm. It should be informed by the people who live the day-to-day. That means bringing local teams into the process throughout the process - not just asking for feedback after decisions are made.
Recognize the imbalance in resources: It's not always fair, but it's real: executive offices often have more funding, staff, and flexibility. Local teams don’t. Once you acknowledge that reality, you can lead with greater empathy - offering support, not just oversight.
Shift from control to collaboration": You might be able to achieve your goals through top-down control - but it often comes at the cost of morale and long-term buy-in. When you lead through alignment and empowerment, you build trust, ownership, and shared purpose - making it far more likely your strategy will succeed.
If your strategy doesn’t work in the field, it doesn’t work. Full stop.
At the end of the day, leadership isn’t about sitting above the work—it’s about staying connected to it.
The best strategies are grounded in reality - not just in what looks good on a slide deck, but in what actually works for the people doing the work. If you're in a leadership role, your job isn’t just to set the direction - it’s to make sure the people on the ground have the tools, trust, and support to carry it forward.