Drift Happens: Strategic Drift and What to Do About It

Strategic drift is a major challenge for organizations as it can lead to unintended consequences and missed opportunities. While leadership sets the strategic direction, it's important to keep the ship on course especially as conditions change. Strategic drift is defined as unintentional deviation from the agreed-upon direction, resulting in sunk costs and missed opportunities. To prevent it, organizations need to continuously communicate a shared, living strategic vision, empower localized decision making, and promote alignment through OKRs and work visualization. With these structures in place, leaders can stop drift before it happens and embrace uncertainty to adapt at speed.