Leading through Intent

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  Business Games
  Feedback Tools
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About us
Solutions
Business Games
Feedback Tools
Resources
Consulting
- About us
- Solutions
  Business Games
  Feedback Tools
- Resources
- Consulting

Leading through Intent

In an ideal world, executing strategy is easy
First, you decide what outcomes are important.
Then, you plan how to achieve those outcomes.
And finally, you execute the plan by taking actions.

Easy, right? Wrong!
The challenges of friction

A range of factors makes strategy execution difficult: As human beings, we have all sorts of biases and personal interests that influence our actions.

Furthermore, when we operate within complex circumstances, emotions and stress contribute to the unpredictability of our behavior. If we also operate in complex environments where shared references are lacking, misunderstandings are likely to affect both our conversations and decisions.

When we add to this the challenge of operating in a changing environment, strategy execution becomes even more formidable.
Dealing with friction
The gaps and traps of strategy execution
The gaps
The knowledge gap: The difference between what we would like to know and what we actually know.
The alignment gap: The difference between what we want other people to do and what they actually do.
The effects gap: The difference between what we expect our actions to achieve and what they actually achieve.
If we fail to address the gaps, we will increasingly find ourselves frustrated and susceptible to falling into one or more of the traps.
The traps
Trap 1: Seeking excessive detail. In response to the knowledge gap, we tend to seek additional information. However, since perfect information is rarely available, this often results in unnecessary delays.
Trap 2: Overloading with detailed instructions. In response to the alignment gap, we often burden tasks with overly detailed instructions. However, this approach can discourage independent thinking and creativity, which is rarely our intention.
Trap 3: Impose more detailed controls.When faced with the effects gap and the failure to achieve desired outcomes, we tend to tighten control processes and potentially introduce more Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). This can divert people's attention towards navigating reviews rather than focusing on customer needs and working towards achieving meaningful outcomes.
The Leading through Intent approach

Leading through Intent is based on a well proven fact: Most people want to make a positive difference in their work and are willing to invest all their skills and efforts if they get the opportunity.

Sadly, in most organizations, a lot of this human potential is wasted. Either because our processes have grown too complex and hard to relate to, or because people do not really feel psychologically safe and empowered.

Leading through Intent is designed to get more people involved in making decisions close to their work. The approach offers true empowerment by moving the responsibility to the people who do the work.
Working with the dynamics of autonomy and alignment

Autonomy and alignment are usually seen as opposites that we must choose between: Either we choose high alignment, or we choose high autonomy.

But there is a better way of addressing this.
Under the right circumstances, we can have high alignment and high autonomy at the same time. If this is achieved, everyone is working towards the same outcomes, while using the freedom their autonomy gives them to make independent decisions. This is what Leading through Intent is all about.

If all team members fully understand the intent (the what and the why), we can loosen up operational control, allowing team members to take responsibility for how things get done.
Request the Leading through Intent playbook

Are you ready to transform your strategy execution?

Unlock your team's full potential with our "Leading through Intent" playbook. Created with Stephen Bungay, author of The Art of Action, it’s based on a simple truth: people want to make a positive impact, but organizations often hinder them with complexity and lack of empowerment.
This framework empowers those closest to the work, fostering ownership, psychological safety, and strategic alignment. Equip your team to go beyond compliance and drive real success.
Get started with "Leading through Intent" today!

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The TARGIT case

Becoming intent driven high performers in only one year

Read the story of how TARGIT, a leading business intelligence Software as a Service company, moved from below average to high performance on both team collaboration and leadership quality in only one year.

And more importantly: How they became an intent driven organization with a high degree of autonomy, involvement and strategy alignment.

Read the case
Learn from the master
Stephen Bungay
The foremost global expert in "Leading through Intent" is Stephen Bungay, author of the renowned book "The Art of Action".

Over several years CultureDrivers has worked closely with Stephen Bungay to turn Bungay's theories and practices into processes, well proven templates and digital tools that can be scaled out broadly in large organizations.

You can inquire about Stephen Bungay´s availability via info@culturedrivers.com
Leadership dilemmas
Leading through Intent involves a lot of dilemmas where you as a team need to make trade-offs between conflicting interests.
We have developed a range of team and leadership dilemmas that helps turn the theory into practice.
The Leader responsibilities
Learn more about the leaders responsibilities when Leading through Intent
Keep everyone focused on the intent
It is the leaders’ responsibility to be crisp and specific about the intent:
What is the essence of what we (the team or project) want to achieve & why is this important?
The leaders are accountable for ensuring that the intent is aligned with the overall strategy.

Some of the most essential qualities of leaders who are strong at driving intent are:
Acting with clear priorities
Communicating effectively
Demonstrating passion for our shared vision
Making clear what is most important
Being forward-thinking
Always acting in the best interest of the entire business
Support the team to grow and thrive
The leaders are responsible for developing a diverse team of people with the relevant competencies and the will to make decisions.
Furthermore, the leaders are in charge of maintaining an inclusive and healthy environment based on trust and psychological safety.
Some of the most essential qualities of leaders who can create a supportive environment are:
Being authentic
Being constructive even when the way forward is not clear
Contributing to a healthy atmosphere
Seeking to understand the thoughts and feelings of others
Being supportive
Being available when needed
Create a strong playfield
The leader´s effort on intent and support aim at one goal: Creating a strong playfield. The playfield is a metaphor for where the work gets done.
On a strong playfield, boundaries for the work are set, with clear processes and defined roles and responsibilities. The team members are self-organized with very little need for day-to-day management from the leader and absolutely no micro-management.

In an ideal world, executing strategy is easy

Easy, right? Wrong!

The challenges of friction

A range of factors makes strategy execution difficult: As human beings, we have all sorts of biases and personal interests that influence our actions.

Furthermore, when we operate within complex circumstances, emotions and stress contribute to the unpredictability of our behavior. If we also operate in complex environments where shared references are lacking, misunderstandings are likely to affect both our conversations and decisions.

When we add to this the challenge of operating in a changing environment, strategy execution becomes even more formidable.

Dealing with friction

The gaps and traps of strategy execution

The gaps

If we fail to address the gaps, we will increasingly find ourselves frustrated and susceptible to falling into one or more of the traps.

The traps

Trap 1: Seeking excessive detail. In response to the knowledge gap, we tend to seek additional information. However, since perfect information is rarely available, this often results in unnecessary delays.

Trap 2: Overloading with detailed instructions. In response to the alignment gap, we often burden tasks with overly detailed instructions. However, this approach can discourage independent thinking and creativity, which is rarely our intention.

The Leading through Intent approach

Leading through Intent is based on a well proven fact: Most people want to make a positive difference in their work and are willing to invest all their skills and efforts if they get the opportunity.

Sadly, in most organizations, a lot of this human potential is wasted. Either because our processes have grown too complex and hard to relate to, or because people do not really feel psychologically safe and empowered.

Leading through Intent is designed to get more people involved in making decisions close to their work. The approach offers true empowerment by moving the responsibility to the people who do the work.

Working with the dynamics of autonomy and alignment

Autonomy and alignment are usually seen as opposites that we must choose between: Either we choose high alignment, or we choose high autonomy.

But there is a better way of addressing this.

Under the right circumstances, we can have high alignment and high autonomy at the same time. If this is achieved, everyone is working towards the same outcomes, while using the freedom their autonomy gives them to make independent decisions. This is what Leading through Intent is all about.

If all team members fully understand the intent (the what and the why), we can loosen up operational control, allowing team members to take responsibility for how things get done.

Request the Leading through Intent playbook

Are you ready to transform your strategy execution?

Unlock your team's full potential with our "Leading through Intent" playbook. Created with Stephen Bungay, author of The Art of Action, it’s based on a simple truth: people want to make a positive impact, but organizations often hinder them with complexity and lack of empowerment.

This framework empowers those closest to the work, fostering ownership, psychological safety, and strategic alignment. Equip your team to go beyond compliance and drive real success.

Get started with "Leading through Intent" today!

The TARGIT case

Becoming intent driven high performers in only one year

Read the story of how TARGIT, a leading business intelligence Software as a Service company, moved from below average to high performance on both team collaboration and leadership quality in only one year.

And more importantly: How they became an intent driven organization with a high degree of autonomy, involvement and strategy alignment.

Learn from the master

Stephen Bungay

The foremost global expert in "Leading through Intent" is Stephen Bungay, author of the renowned book "The Art of Action".

Over several years CultureDrivers has worked closely with Stephen Bungay to turn Bungay's theories and practices into processes, well proven templates and digital tools that can be scaled out broadly in large organizations.

You can inquire about Stephen Bungay´s availability via info@culturedrivers.com

Leadership dilemmas

Leading through Intent involves a lot of dilemmas where you as a team need to make trade-offs between conflicting interests.

We have developed a range of team and leadership dilemmas that helps turn the theory into practice.

The Leading through Intent toolbox also includes a TeamDrivers and a 360 corresponding with the framework.

Feedback from different respondents are reported for Intent, Support and Playfield seperately and helps identify the areas where behavioural change would be most valuable.

Becoming great at working with the Leading through Intent practices often involves a need to adjust some of the existing colaboration habits.

For this purpose the team change cards can work as a valuable tool.

The Leader responsibilities

Learn more about the leaders responsibilities when Leading through Intent

Keep everyone focused on the intent

It is the leaders’ responsibility to be crisp and specific about the intent:

What is the essence of what we (the team or project) want to achieve & why is this important?

The leaders are accountable for ensuring that the intent is aligned with the overall strategy.

Some of the most essential qualities of leaders who are strong at driving intent are:

Support the team to grow and thrive

The leaders are responsible for developing a diverse team of people with the relevant competencies and the will to make decisions.

Furthermore, the leaders are in charge of maintaining an inclusive and healthy environment based on trust and psychological safety.

Some of the most essential qualities of leaders who can create a supportive environment are:

Create a strong playfield

The leader´s effort on intent and support aim at one goal: Creating a strong playfield. The playfield is a metaphor for where the work gets done.

On a strong playfield, boundaries for the work are set, with clear processes and defined roles and responsibilities. The team members are self-organized with very little need for day-to-day management from the leader and absolutely no micro-management.