What Are Strategic Conditions? The Three Things That Must Be in Place Before Goals Can Be Achieved

The three building blocks that determine whether strategy succeeds

When organizations fail to execute their strategic planning, it's usually because they've missed building one of these three fundamental conditions:

Structure: What keeps the work in place

Structure is about the concrete tools and systems that support your work. The processes that ensure things happen in the right order, the technology that makes the work possible, and the resources available when needed.

When structure is in place, everyone knows how the work should be done. There are routines to follow, systems to use, and resources to access. When it's missing, people spend more time solving practical problems than creating results.

Examples of structure:

• A functioning system for handling customer cases

• Clear processes for project execution

• Budget and resources allocated to the right things

• Tools that actually get used and work together

Capability: The knowledge and competence to do the job

Structure isn't enough if no one knows how to use it. Capability is about the team's knowledge, skills, and experience. The competence to solve problems, make the right decisions, and execute the work properly.

An organization with strong capability can handle complex challenges. They have specialist knowledge where needed and broad competence across the team. When capability is missing, even simple tasks become difficult to execute.

Examples of capability:

• Sales teams that master negotiation techniques

• IT staff who can handle new systems

• Leaders who can make decisions under pressure

• Employees with deep understanding of customer needs

Energy: The drive that moves the organization forward

Here's where it gets human. Energy is about motivation, commitment, and the psychological safety that makes people actually want to do the job. The willingness to contribute, the feeling that work matters, and that there's a point to what you're doing.

You can have perfect structure and all the competence in the world. But if energy is missing, nothing happens. People do only what's absolutely necessary. No one takes initiative. Perseverance disappears when things get tough.

Examples of energy:

• A team that feels their work makes a difference

• Employees who get recognition when they succeed

• A culture where it's okay to ask questions

• Clear connection between individual work and organizational goals

Why all three are needed simultaneously

It's tempting to believe you can compensate for one weakness by being extra strong in another area. That doesn't work in the long run.

A company can have all tools and systems in place (strong structure) and an engaged team (strong energy). But if no one can actually use the tools (weak capability), the result will still be poor. Or vice versa: a skilled and motivated team lacking the right tools will eventually become frustrated.

Take this example. A company wanted to improve customer satisfaction. They identified the following:

Structure: They implemented a new system for customer feedback and created clear channels for customer communication.

Capability: They trained staff in problem solving and communication to better meet customer needs.

Energy: They built a culture of customer focus through regular feedback and recognition when someone did a good job.

The result wasn't just higher customer satisfaction. It became a stronger organization where people actually wanted to work.

Read more about common mistakes when working with conditions

How to map out which conditions are required

For each strategic goal you have, you need to ask three questions:

1. What structures are needed to support the goal?
Think resources, systems, and routines. What must be in place practically for the work to be executed?

2. What capabilities must be developed or strengthened?
What competence is required? Does it exist in the team today or does it need to be built up?

3. What energy is required to drive the work forward?
Are people motivated? Do they understand why this is important? Is there enough perseverance to keep going when things get difficult?

Here's a concrete example. Say the goal is to launch a new e-commerce platform:

Structure: An adaptable platform tool, clear technical specifications, and budget for implementation.

Capability: A trained IT team and a project manager with experience from similar implementations.

Energy: An engaged team motivated to deliver on schedule and understanding the business value of the project.

Read more about how to execute the strategic plan in practice

The traffic light: How to see where you stand

Once you've identified which conditions are needed, the next step is to assess where you actually stand. The simplest way is to use a traffic light system:

🟢 Green: The condition is in place and functioning. No urgent action needed.

🟡 Yellow: The condition exists partially but needs improvement or development. It works, but not well enough.

🔴 Red: The condition is completely missing and must be addressed immediately. Without it, there's no progress.

This isn't rocket science. It's about being honest about the situation. Take the customer satisfaction example again:

Structure (new customer service system) – 🟡 Yellow: The system is in place but not fully utilized by everyone. Some employees struggle to use it.

Capability (training in complaint handling) – 🟢 Green: Training is completed and the team reports they handle complaints better.

Energy (motivation and engagement) – 🔴 Red: Employees don't understand how their work contributes to the goals. Many feel stressed and exhausted.

When you see this, it suddenly becomes obvious where efforts need to be focused. You don't start building more structures when energy is red. You start by understanding why people are burned out and do something about it.

Three ways to assess where you actually stand

There are different ways to determine whether a condition is green, yellow, or red. Which method you choose depends on what you're assessing:

Objective measures for what can be counted

Some things can be measured straight up. The number of completed training sessions. How many use the new system. The budget allocated compared to what's needed.

If the goal is for everyone to be trained in the new system and 95 out of 100 people have completed the training, the status is green. Simple.

Surveys for experiences and attitudes

Sometimes it's not about facts but about how people feel. How motivated is the team? Do employees feel they have the tools they need? Do they feel the work is moving forward?

Surveys work well here. Use a scale from 1 to 5 and ask concrete questions. "I understand how my work contributes to our goals" or "I have the tools I need to do my job well."

Expert judgment for the complex

Sometimes it requires someone with specialist knowledge to assess the situation. Is the technical platform stable enough to build on? Do we have the legal competence required for upcoming regulations?

To make it less arbitrary, set clear criteria before you ask the expert:

🔴 Red: We have no functioning system in place, or it's not used in practice.

🟡 Yellow: A system exists but is only partially or inconsistently used.

🟢 Green: A functioning system is in place, used consistently, and responsibility is clear.

Read more about different ways to measure and achieve strategic goals

What happens next: From insight to action

Identifying conditions is the step before action. When you know what's missing, you can start building it. When you know what's yellow, you can strengthen it before it turns red.

Focus on the conditions that have the greatest impact. Those that are red and critical for the goal to be achieved. Those that affect multiple goals simultaneously. Those that, if not addressed, will slow down all other work.

Strategy doesn't end with planning. It begins there. Conditions are what make it actually happen.

Read more about strategy development from planning to execution

Common questions about conditions in strategic planning

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