From Fizzle to Sizzle: Five Ways CIOs Sustain Momentum for their IT Strategy

Most IT strategies don’t fail because they were wrong. They fail because the initial excitement gives way to daily operational demands. Within a year, the energy is gone and all the careful thinking is practically forgotten.

Based on our 20+ years working with CIOs and enterprise IT, we’ve learned the most important approach to keeping an IT strategy sizzling, instead of fizzling:    successful strategies are designed to live inside the organization — not above it.

We’ve distilled this learning into five principles our clients use to keep IT strategies relevant and energizing long after the kickoff.

1. Make the Strategy Measurable Enough to Matter

Many strategies depend on ambition rather than evidence. CIOs who sustain momentum build measurement into the strategy from day one — not as a reporting exercise, but as a reality check.

Strong metrics define where the organization is starting, what success looks like, and progress markers along the way.

Metrics make strategy tangible. They signal seriousness to the business. Most importantly, they give teams something real to rally around — visible proof that change is happening, not just being discussed.

Insider tip:  Choose only the metrics that directly reflect your strategic intent. Track them. Share them. And be prepared to adjust course.

2. Break the Strategy Into One-Year Commitments

A three-year strategy can feel abstract. A one-year commitment feels achievable.

CIOs who keep a strategy alive translate long-range intent into short-term focus:

• 12–18 month priorities
• Clear outcomes for each priority
• Visibility into what “good” looks like

These near-term objectives help teams see the through-line from vision to execution — and understand how today’s work contributes to tomorrow’s value.

This is especially vital in IT, where foundational reliability often precedes strategic capabilities.

3. Anchor the Strategy in Visible Work

IT leaders know a hidden truth: their teams respond to what they can touch.

Strategy may be abstract, but projects and systems are concrete. That’s why CIOs establish a handful of highly visible “signature initiatives” — programs that span IT functions and visibly demonstrate the strategy in action.

CIOs who keep a strategy alive translate long-range intent into short-term focus:

• Embody strategic priorities
• Become shorthand for the strategy itself
• Give the organization something to point to

Instead of asking teams to become more conceptual, design the strategy to meet them where they work — in the systems, platforms, and projects that define their days.

Insider tip:  Signature Initiatives don’t need to be invented.   Help the team see themselves in the strategy by grouping together a small set of existing projects that support a strategic theme and titling this group as your strategic initiative. 

4. Translate the Strategy to the Individual Level

People support what they understand — and they understand what affects their day-to-day work.

A strategy takes life only when every person can answer one question: “What am I doing differently because of this strategy?”

CIOs who maintain momentum connect the strategy to:

• Team objectives
• Individual goals
• Daily operational choices
• Quarterly performance expectations

This is explicit alignment between the work people do and the strategic outcomes they are responsible for delivering. And it’s where strategy becomes personal — which is where it becomes real.

Insider tip:  Many of our clients dedicate time in their all-hands meetings to call-out specific examples of individuals demonstrating behaviors that support the strategy’s intent.  Even commending someone in a quick email will go a long way to helping the team adopt the new strategy.

5. Operationalize the Message

Momentum doesn’t fade because people stop caring. It fades because leaders stop talking about the strategy.

Sustained strategies rely on communication rhythm:

• Quarterly strategic initiative updates
• Success examples at Townhalls
• Leadership team reviews
• Regular visibility into progress metrics

CIOs who sustain energy build communication into the operating cadence — not as an event, but as a muscle.  Strategy becomes a drumbeat, not a campaign.

Most organizations try to keep their strategy alive after it’s been created. Successful CIOs take the opposite approach: they design the strategy so it can’t die.

Strategies that stay alive are built for real-world execution.   Sure, they excite the team with a vision of the future – but they also contain tactical guidelines to help the team contribute to IT’s success.    

If the strategy is measurable, near-term, concrete, individually relevant, and reinforced through a consistent cadence, it will stay present in the organization — not as a document, but as a system of sustained action.