Intent into action: you are never too small to strategise

Adopting a strategy isn’t a luxury for big organisations. It’s the difference between being busy – and making progress. If you have customers, a goal, and a team -even a team of one, then you’re big enough for strategy.

Often larger companies will have a strategy in place, but not always a clear plan of execution. With smaller companies, strategy can get trapped inside one or a few key individuals’ minds and not communicated effectively. But what puts smaller companies off? It’s usually resource constraints, the immediate demands of day-to-day operations, and a fear of the unknown – many don’t have prior experience of strategy.

Start small, start now – and make every week count

At IMIG, we use a Japanese approach called Hoshin Kanri to help leaders set a clear vision and direction, translate it into a small number of measurable priorities and run a simple, visual plan that the whole team uses every week. You don’t need new software to begin or hours of meetings. A whiteboard, wall, and a weekly rhythm are enough.

Hoshin Kanri offers a disciplined way to connect long-term intent with today’s actions. It is practical, quick to adopt, and popular with many SMEs, start-ups as well as larger multi-national companies. We also run our company using the same approach.

It has a simple philosophy and approach.

The 8 Step Hoshin Kanri Approach

1. Vision & Direction. A one-page statement of where you’re heading and why our stakeholders should care.
2. Strategic Shifts (3–5 years). The few big changes required to get there (usually no more than three to five).
3. Annual Objectives. What must improve in the next 12 months; specific, measurable, and owned.
4. Plan review & alignment. A two-way process with the people delivering the work to test feasibility, refine targets and secure ownership.
5. Measures & owners. A simple KPI tree linking outcomes (lagging) to the drivers (leading) your team controls.
6. 90-day plan. Concrete actions, resources, and checkpoints – a vision of what happens this week, this month, this quarter.
7. Review rhythm (PDCA). Short weekly check-ins to remove blockers; monthly reviews to adapt; quarterly workshops to build in learning.
8. Visual management. A “Strategy on a Page” and X-Matrix so priorities, owners and dependencies are visible immediately.

What changes when you run Hoshin

• Fewer false starts. Initiatives are tested against direction and evidence before they consume time and money.
• Sharper accountability. Owners, measures, and dates are visible; progress is discussed weekly, not annually.
• Better collaboration. The X-Matrix exposes dependencies early, so teams coordinate sooner.
• Quicker customer impact. Priorities are chosen for measurable value such as lead time, quality, On-Time-In-Full, cash.

Real life case study

A 22-person engineering firm was juggling ten ‘priorities’ and missing delivery dates. After a two-day Hoshin sprint they set three annual objectives (on-time delivery, margin per project, and one new market), stopped five low-value initiatives, and launched a weekly review rhythm. Within one quarter, quoted-to-order conversion improved and rework fell by tackling two leading indicators they controlled.

A rhythm that sticks

If you’d like a short Hoshin taster for your leadership team, get in touch. Owning a strategy isn’t about size; it’s about clarity and discipline; focus over activity; faster decisions and momentum that sticks.

In six sessions with us you’ll have:

• A one-page strategy everyone understands
• A live X-Matrix with owners and measures
• A 90-day delivery plan and a simple review rhythm that sticks

The IMIG Approach:

Session 1: Understand & define

• Leadership interviews, quick customer pulse, current metrics review
• Draft Vision & Direction and candidate Strategic Shifts

Session 2: Co-create the plan

• Facilitated workshop to agree your “Strategy on a Page”
• Build the X-Matrix linking annual objectives, owners and measures
• Map the KPI tree (leading/lagging indicators)

Session 3: Align & refine

• Practical sessions with team leads to test targets and resources
• Convert objectives into a 90-day action plan with named owners

Session 4: Launch the cadence

• Weekly stand-up playbook and monthly review agenda
• Set up a lightweight visual strategy room (physical or digital)

Sessions 5–12: Coach & course-correct

• Weekly support to remove blockers and close gaps
• Monthly PDCA review; update the X-Matrix and plan as evidence builds

Back to news articles