From strategic plans to transformation programs, most organizations are full of projects. New ideas are launched every quarter, new roadmaps are drawn, new tools are deployed.
Yet, despite all this activity, the overall impact often remains frustratingly small.
The issue isn’t a lack of effort. It’s that, somewhere along the way, the organization loses clarity about how each initiative contributes to real value creation.
When action becomes noise
At first glance, activity looks like progress. The more we launch, the more we feel like we’re moving forward.
But this “busy equals productive” mindset has its limits.
In many organizations, projects overlap, contradict, or duplicate one another. Teams pull in different directions, and leaders end up managing capacity rather than purpose.
The result: energy is consumed internally, while clients, employees, and partners see little change.
The three hidden costs of scattered initiatives
- Diluted focus
Every new priority steals attention from another. The organization moves, but not necessarily forward. - Fatigue and disengagement
People stop believing that the next initiative will truly change anything. - Strategic opacity
The link between projects and the enterprise’s real ambitions becomes blurred, sometimes lost entirely.
Regaining clarity
To break this cycle, an organization must reconnect action with intention.
That means asking, before launching anything new:
- Why does this project matter for us, right now?
- Which capabilities does it strengthen?
- How will we know if it’s creating value?
These simple questions shift the discussion from “what do we deliver?” to “what do we change?”.
A practical approach: mapping initiatives with EDGY
At &friends, we use the EDGY framework to visualize projects across the enterprise — not as a list, but as an ecosystem.
This mapping reveals how each initiative supports the organization’s Identity (purpose and strategy), Experience (customers and employees), and Architecture (operations, systems, and structure).
Very quickly, patterns emerge:
- efforts that reinforce one another,
- overlaps that drain energy,
- and missing links where value leaks away.
Once the picture is visible, decisions become easier.
Mini-story: less projects, more alignment
A public organization we worked with was juggling over forty initiatives across five departments.
After mapping everything, they realized that ten of those projects targeted the same goal — improving citizen experience — but from completely different angles.
By merging and sequencing them, they freed up budget, reduced meetings by half, and, most importantly, gave teams a shared narrative.
Sometimes, the smartest move isn’t to add another project, but to make the existing ones work together.
Metrics that matter
- Number of initiatives directly linked to strategic priorities.
- Ratio of completed projects to measurable impact achieved.
- Employee clarity score: “I understand how my work contributes to the company’s objectives.”
And after?
The goal isn’t to do less. It’s to do better, with focus and coherence.
When every initiative is understood as part of a whole, effort becomes momentum and projects regain meaning.
After all, transformation isn’t about launching new things — it’s about ensuring that what already exists moves together, in the same direction.
FAQ
Do we need to launch fewer initiatives?
Not necessarily. The goal isn’t to reduce activity, but to make sure every initiative creates value and contributes to the overall direction.
How can we tell if an initiative really has an impact?
By linking it to a clear strategic ambition and measurable outcomes. If the impact can’t be defined or tracked, it’s probably time to question its relevance.
Who should maintain the “big picture”?
Everyone shares that responsibility — but leadership must ensure that the organization keeps a shared map of priorities and interdependencies visible at all times.
