“It took the management team 30 days to develop the strategy, it only took the organization 30 seconds to misunderstand it.”
This quote was shared with me by an experienced business leader and for me, it captures one of the most common and costly leadership challenges: the disconnect between strategic intent and organizational understanding and involvement.
Many organizations invest significant time and effort crafting a strategy, but when it’s time to execute the strategy, it’s often misunderstood, misaligned or met with passive compliance rather than active commitment.
What causes this to happen? It usually has something to do with the fact the strategy isn’t shared, it's announced.
A very effictive way to mitigate such a situation is to approach strategy with a much more collaborative leadership approach like Catchball. Catchball is part of the Hoshin Kanri strategic process but it can be applied more broadly.
Imagine you threw a ball between stakeholders in the organization. The ball is passed back and forth until there’s shared understanding and commitment.
• Teams are invited to provide input, raise challenges, and suggest what problems need to be solved to achieve those goals.
Catchball is not just about getting agreement, it’s about building clarity and shared purpose through respectful, fact-based discussion.
The Problem: Misunderstood Strategy
When you and your team haven’t had the chance to contribute to the strategy or when it is not communicated in a way that makes your role clear, it's easy to feel disconnected. When that disconnect happens, the signs show up in the following ways:
• You start working on the wrong things
• You feel unsure about what to prioritise
• You stay silent instead of speaking up
• Energy and engagement begin to fade
As a result, productivity drops and you risk spending time, resources, and focus on efforts that don’t move the business in the right direction.
So how do you close that gap between leadership and the rest of the organization?
Catchball: A Collaborative Way to Align Strategy
Catchball is a leadership approach that builds on open, two-way communication across all levels of the organization. It creates feedback loops, not just to clarify strategy but to foster engagement, ownership, and alignment.
Think of it as a metaphor: the strategic idea is the “ball” which is thrown between leaders and teams, refined through conversation and feedback then returned stronger and more aligned.
How Catchball Works
Effective Catchball conversations start with thoughtful questions like:
• What could prevent us from reaching our breakthrough objectives?
• How can I help you remove blockers?
• How do you think we can best contribute?
• What problems do you need help solving?
These questions shift the tone from “telling” to “partnering” with the end goal to have consensus among the stakeholders involved.
The Power of Consensus
Consensus means you reach a common understanding and collective buy-in, even if the final plan isn’t your first choice.
When you build consensus, you start pulling in the same direction as a team. You feel seen, heard, and part of the journey and that’s how real momentum begins.
Your Role as a Manager: Leading with the 4C’s
2. Showing up consistently and follow through (Commitment)
3. Encouraging honest conversations and dissent (Courage)
4. Guiding the organization toward shared agreement and action (Consensus)
