The Post-Approval Checklist

Implementation · From the essay “The Strategy Is Approved. Now What?”

Approval confirms a direction. It does not create the financial, organizational, technical, and operational conditions required to deliver it. Build these layers — and answer these questions — before you announce implementation.

The layers

• 01 Requirements structure
• 02 Financial model
• 03 Operating model
• 04 Implementation architecture
• 05 Governance rhythm
• 06 Learning system

The lenses

• Financial Cost, one-time vs recurring, working capital, untested funding assumptions, what you will stop funding.
• Organizational Which functions change, new capabilities, who owns the outcome and holds authority, overlapping responsibilities.
• Operational The process that produces the result, information that must move, critical handoffs, the off-pathway case.
• Implementation What happens first, dependencies, decisions that gate the work, delay risks, external approvals.
• Performance What early progress looks like, what leadership reviews, indicators that drive action, triggers to change course.

Questions to answer

• Have the priorities been translated into concrete operating requirements?
• Has the full cost of implementation been modelled?
• Are decision rights and responsibilities clear?
• Have dependencies and decision gates been identified?
• Does each workstream have an accountable owner?
• Are governance forums designed to make decisions, not receive updates?
• Is the organization monitoring the assumptions beneath the strategy?
• Will the models, tools, and logic remain usable after external support ends?