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CHAPTER 13: CREATING VISION AND STRATEGIC DIRECTION 407
and whether implementation of the decision will be easy or diffi cult. A change
that both produces a high strategic impact and is easy to implement would
be a leader’s fi rst choice for putting strategy into action. For example, leaders
at Payless ShoeSource have shifted the company’s strategy to try to appeal to
young, fashion-conscious women with trendier shoes at reasonable prices, or as
CEO Matt Rubel puts it, to “democratize fashion.” One of the fi rst steps leaders
took was to give the stores a new look. The tall, crowded wire racks have been
replaced with low countertops and displays arranged by fashion rather than by
size. The walls are curved to give a feeling of movement and energy. Even the
lighting is strategic. Modern white ceiling lamps brighten the whole store and
accent lamps highlight the higher-fashion items. “It makes a $12 shoe look like
a $20 shoe,” says Rubel. It’s too early to tell if Payless’s move into fashion is a
success, but the redesign of stores is already having a big strategic impact. As
one fashion-conscious shopper said, “Everything looks so much nicer. Is this
Payless?” 61

Some strategic decisions, however, are much more difficult to implement. For
example, pursuing growth through mergers and acquisitions can present dif-

ficulties of blending production processes, accounting procedures, corporate
cultures, and other aspects of the organizations into an effectively functioning
whole. Structural reorganizations, such as a shift to horizontal teams or breaking
a corporation into separate divisions, is another example of a high-risk decision.
Leaders frequently initiate major changes despite the risks and diffi culties because
the potential strategic payoff is very high.
Leaders also sometimes pursue activities that have a low strategic impact
but which are relatively easy to implement. Incremental improvements in prod-
ucts, work processes, or techniques are examples. Over time, incremental im-
provements can have an important effect on the organization. In addition, small
changes can sometimes be needed to symbolize improvement and success to peo-
ple within the organization. It may be important for leaders to produce quick,
highly visible improvements to boost morale, keep people committed to larger
changes, or keep followers focused on the vision. For example, the manager of a
purchasing department wanted to re-engineer the purchasing process to increase
effi ciency and improve relationships with suppliers. He wanted requisitions and
invoices to be processed within days rather than the several weeks it had been
taking. Employees were skeptical that the department could ever meet the new
standards and pointed out that some invoices currently awaiting processing were
almost two months old. The manager decided to make some simple revisions in
the fl ow of paperwork and employee duties, which enabled the department to
process all the old invoices so that no remaining invoice was more than a week
old. This “small win” energized employees and helped keep them focused on the
larger goal. The positive attitude made implementation of the larger change
62
much smoother.
The fi nal category shown in Exhibit 13.7 relates to changes that are both
diffi cult to implement and have low strategic impact. An illustration of a deci-
sion in this category was the attempt by new management at a highly success-
ful mail-order clothing company to implement teams. In this case, the decision
was not made to support a new strategic direction but simply to try out a new
management trend—and it was a miserable failure that cost the organization
much time, money, and employee goodwill before the teams were fi nally dis-
banded. Effective leaders try to avoid making decisions that fall within this
63
category.