Episode 1 | How to Stop Transformation Value Leaking Between Strategy and Delivery

Clear strategy plus committed funding still loses 30% of transformation value on average. You sat through the strategy deck. Now you own delivery inside an organisation with more partners, more data, more regulation and more legacy than anyone budgeted for. If the board's confidence feels miles from what you see on the ground, this show is for you. Andy Haley, CEO of Sullivan & Stanley, opens The 7 Percent with what the research says. Just 7% of execs are confident they capture full value across a transformation programme, whilst 90% of boards believe their strategy is clear. You'll get a plain test for your own programme: do you know the outcome you care about, the variables that drive it, and whether you're set up to influence them? Andy also sets out the four areas an organisation needs to get right to become what he calls an intelligent enterprise. Expect a frank look at value leakage and the growing number of domains (partners, data, automation, regulators, fast-moving start-ups) that make change harder to steer. Andy covers why AI is a disruptor you have to plan for and never the strategy itself, and why legacy technology is eating change budgets. This is for Directors of Transformation, Chief Transformation Officers and heads of digital change at large enterprises. If you want a vendor tool walkthrough, look elsewhere. Key Takeaways Boards report 90% confidence that their outcomes are clear. Andy's test goes a step further, to whether anyone understands the variables that actually move those outcomes. People are now the biggest source of differentiation. As technology gets cheaper for everyone, judgement and psychological safety are where the advantage sits. Much of what gets badged as AI is plain automation. Andy explains why AI still earns its own category, and the governance and business-case questions leaders can't yet answer. Legacy remediation is consuming a growing share of transformation budgets. Sometimes the best investment is preparing your architecture for the next phase of growth. Chapter Markers 00:00 Why clear strategy still fails to deliver 00:24 Welcome to The 7 Percent 00:48 The 7% research and 30% value leakage 01:45 Board confidence versus real outcomes 02:19 Why more domains make change harder 03:31 Outcomes, variables and your ability to influence them 05:47 What an intelligent enterprise looks like 06:10 Human intelligence and psychological safety 07:09 AI: disruptor, never the strategy 08:22 Technology intelligence and the legacy budget drain 09:41 Execution intelligence across partners and programmes 10:51 Value as the currency of transformation 11:46 What's coming in the rest of the series Useful Links & Resources Sullivan & Stanley: https://sullivanandstanley.com Connect with Andy Haley on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-haley-a1691a/ Which of the four areas is your programme weakest on right now: people, AI, technology or execution? Tell us in the comments, along with the one variable you find hardest to influence. If you're watching value leak between the board deck and delivery, book a conversation with Andy and the Sullivan & Stanley team at sullivanandstanley.com. Then follow The 7 Percent so you catch the future episodes. #The7Percent #DigitalTransformation #TransformationLeadership #ChangeManagement Send us a message