Strategy is Not a Backlog

Why Executives Must Reclaim Strategy from the Delivery Pipeline

Strategy is not a backlog - it’s a single, integrated thread guiding every choice

Let’s start with a familiar scenario:

An Executive says, “We need a strategic plan.”

And suddenly, the entire company springs into action (generally right at the end of Q4). Spreadsheets, PowerPoints, timelines, Budgets, and a long list of projects.

But somewhere along the way, the most important part is forgotten: the strategy itself.

Because here’s the uncomfortable truth - in many organisations, what gets called “strategy” is really just a budgeting exercise with a preamble.

In the legacy world, a list of pre-approved work known as “Projects”. In the hip “we are so agile” world “Initiatives”. Whatever, both are mistaken for “strategies,” and a plan of action is mistaken for the logic behind that action.

So strategy becomes a set of projects. Projects become backlogs. And before long, delivery teams are buried under a mountain of work… without any clear understanding of why it matters.

This is how strategy disintegrates.

Once strategy turns into a list of disconnected work, it stops guiding meaningful decisions. The coherence vanishes, and with it, the ability to focus. To move fast and make smart trade-offs, you don’t need more tasks — you need a clear logic behind the work.

Strategy is Singular, Not a Shopping List

Strategy isn’t about adding more work to the backlog or chasing the 'next big thing.' And no — there shouldn’t be “multiple strategies” for one business.

Why?

Because strategy is a mechanism for coherence, not accumulation. It’s a unifying set of choices that align the organisation’s efforts around a shared intent. The moment you fragment that intent — with “multiple strategies” across departments, portfolios, or teams — you break the very function strategy is meant to serve: focus.

Fragmented strategy leads to fragmented focus.

Strategy exists to answer the most fundamental question: what will we do — and just as importantly, what won’t we do — to win? If each part of the business pursues its own idea of “winning,” you don’t have strategy. You have a collection of preferences.

Organisations that confuse strategy with ideation or initiative-planning end up overwhelmed: every new idea becomes “strategic,” every backlog balloons, and decision-making grinds to a halt.

A single, integrated strategy provides the logic for why we pursue certain paths — and why we ignore others. Without that clarity, you’re not steering the ship — you’re just reacting to the waves.

Strategy is a singular, integrated set of choices.

As Roger Martin frames it:

• What is our winning aspiration?

• Where will we play?

• How will we win?

• What capabilities must be in place?

• What management systems must be instituted?

  
  

A good strategy answers these questions in unison. It creates a throughline - a filter for decision-making, a guide for prioritisation, and a shared frame of reference.

When done well, strategy enables discernment. It makes decision-making easier - not harder - because it helps people recognise what’s critical and what’s not. What’s core to the mission, and what’s just noise.

But when strategy is missing - or when it’s splintered into dozens of projects each posing as their own “mini strategy” - everything looks important. So everything gets funded. Everything gets planned. Everything gets delivered… badly.

While a clear, integrated strategy offers the guidance needed for alignment, the moment strategic logic weakens or gets lost in translation, things begin to unravel.

Let’s explore how this disintegration sequence unfolds - and why a lack of strategic clarity leads to chaos and inefficiency.

From Strategy to Static

Here’s the disintegration sequence:

1. Weak or incoherent strategic logic

   The executive team hasn’t made (or clearly communicated) a set of integrated strategic choices. What exists is a set of high-level ambitions or “key priorities” loosely connected by themes and corporate acronyms.

   
   

2. Translation into work too early

   Lacking a shared understanding of the why, teams race to define the what. In many organisations, this work falls to a central change or portfolio team, tasked with turning broad ambitions into deliverables. The result? A long list of projects or initiatives — many of them sensible in isolation — but disconnected in intent. What’s missing isn’t effort. It’s the strategic thread that turns busy work into meaningful progress.

   
   

3. Strategy becomes a list

   The strategy doc is 60 pages long. It lists 27 key priorities for the year. There’s a roadmap, a quarterly plan, and colour-coded deliverables. But what’s missing is a clear, integrated set of choices — not just what we’ll do, but what we won’t. Without that discernment, the plan becomes a catalogue of projects rather than a strategy that guides meaningful trade-offs.

   
   

4. The list enters Jira

   Strategic initiatives are entered into Jira, broken into epics and stories, and tracked with dashboards and sprint goals. But every team configures Jira differently— one team’s Epic is another team’s Feature: there is no shared hierarchy, no consistent naming, no traceable link to strategy. What started as intent becomes an incoherent backlog. And the “why” behind the work quietly disappears.

   
   

5. Delivery gets optimised; strategy gets lost

   Teams are constantly busy, and the dashboards are brimming with activity. But when you ask, “How does this connect to the overall strategy?” the room goes quiet. Despite the relentless focus on delivering, the link to strategic goals becomes increasingly blurred. What began as a clear direction ends up buried under layers of tasks… with no one quite sure how their work contributes to the big picture.

   
   

As the disintegration sequence plays out, the strategic intent becomes muddled with logistical tasks, and what once held promise as a guiding vision turns into a bloated list.

To clear up the confusion, it's crucial to recognise that strategic planning isn't the same as having a real strategy — and understanding this difference is vital for transforming your approach.

Strategic Planning ≠ Strategy

Many executives mistake strategic planning for the strategy itself. The ‘strategic plan’ becomes a list of projects, timelines, and budgets with the finance function heavily involved tilting the process toward resourcing and scheduling.

As one senior leader I met once said, "A strategic plan isn’t a map, it’s just a list of destinations." And this is why so many teams feel disconnected: what’s missing is the logic behind the plan - the 'reason for the journey.'

Here’s the difference:

Strategic Plan (in most orgs)	Real Strategy
A list of projects or initiatives	A coherent set of choices
Focused on timelines and budgets	Focused on positioning and advantage
Driven by what’s been funded	Driven by what the organisation is trying to achieve
Output: a detailed plan	Output: clear, decisive direction

This is why so many line managers view “strategic planning” with dread. It’s not a chance to help shape the future — it’s a glorified budgeting exercise with extra meetings.

But when you clarify that strategy is not just budget allocation — that it’s the logic behind the allocation — they get much more interested. Because they finally see how it connects to the real work.

Without a real strategy to guide decision-making and align efforts, what was once a coherent plan devolves into chaos, where teams are working in isolation, disconnected from any central purpose. Here’s a closer look at the tangible consequences when strategic clarity is absent, and why it’s so critical to get alignment right.

What Happens Without Strategic Clarity

Without a single, integrated strategy:

• Delivery teams are left guessing. They work hard but can’t see how their efforts link to anything bigger. So they optimise for local success — completing tasks — not outcomes. Check your latest employee survey — disengagement often stems from lack of clarity and alignment.

  
  

  Gallup reports that only 36% of employees are actively engaged, and McKinsey finds that 70% of transformations fail due to poor strategy-to-execution alignment.

  
  

• Backlogs swell. When everything is potentially strategic, nothing can be cut. You end up with bloated backlogs, scattered focus, and busy teams producing low-value work.

  
  

• Debates increase, alignment vanishes. Without strategic clarity, every initiative must justify itself in isolation. This leads to a surge in prioritisation meetings, portfolio reviews, and decision fatigue.

  
  

A Lack of Clarity in Finance: Deutsche Bank

Without alignment, even the strongest plans fall apart.

A prime example of this misalignment is Deutsche Bank’s strategic missteps during its 2019 restructuring effort. The bank launched an ambitious transformation plan with the goal of streamlining its operations and improving profitability.

However, this plan was undermined by poor communication of strategic goals and a lack of alignment across divisions, with teams working in silos and no cohesive direction. As a result, the plan floundered, and financial targets went unmet.

This is exactly what happens when strategic clarity is lost: backlogs swell, teams lose focus, and the work becomes disconnected from the organisation’s broader mission. The fallout from Deutsche Bank’s restructuring highlights the critical importance of ensuring that your strategy and execution are tightly aligned.

So, what’s the solution? How can leaders bridge the gap between strategy and execution to turn these challenges around? Here’s a set of actionable steps to ensure your strategy translates into meaningful outcomes.

From Strategy to Impact: What Works

Align your actions with a clear strategy to drive real impact.

Here’s what works to bridge strategy and execution:

1. Make the integrated choices.

   Be specific about where you will play and how you’ll win. Don’t just make a list of to-dos.

   
   

2. Treat Strategy as a Living Discipline

   Revisit and adjust your strategy quarterly or even monthly. Communicate changes clearly to ensure alignment.

   
   

3.  Visualise Strategic Flow

   Create simple visuals that show how each task connects to strategic outcomes - If your board can’t see the link between strategy and Jira, neither can your teams.

4. Empower Team with Context

   Don’t dictate tasks, let them build their own roadmaps; guide teams with the ‘why’ behind their work. This helps them connect their efforts to the bigger picture.

   
   

5. Use Tools to Enable Strategic Alignment

   Your tooling should reflect strategic intent, ensuring a traceable link between objectives and execution.

   
   

6. Apply the Strategy Filter.

   Ask: Does this initiative strengthen our position? Does it support our strategic choices? What impact will it have? 

   
   

7. Inspect Alignment Regularly

   Don’t just measure velocity, measure alignment. Is the work reinforcing the strategy? Which teams need more clarity on the why? What are we doing that no longer serves the strategy?

   
   

Implementing the right strategic practices will set you on the path to alignment and impact, but the hard truth is that without strong strategic direction, no amount of process or tools can save you.

Let’s wrap this up by reaffirming that strategy is not just a plan, it’s the starting point for everything that follows.

Final Thoughts: Strategy Is the Starting Point

You can’t delegate your way out of a weak strategy.

No amount of agility, tooling, or delivery discipline can compensate for a lack of strategic clarity.

Strategy isn’t a backlog, and it’s not a plan. It’s a set of choices that creates coherence across everything that follows.

If your backlog is full but your impact is low, ask yourself this:

• Is the work linked to a single, cohesive, integrated strategy?

• Or is it just a scattered list of disconnected priorities?

  
  

Because strategy isn’t a backlog.

It’s the reason to care what’s in one.