Leveraging themes

Build an organisation so that everyday decisions reflect long-term priorities

When I discuss Thematic Strategy with my peers, many tell me they understand the idea of aligning strategy around long-term themes. The harder part is turning that alignment into the everyday routines of the business. A theme can set direction, but it only creates advantage when it shapes how decisions are made, how resources flow, and how teams work. Converting a theme into an operating model is the step that most firms get wrong.

I look at firms such as Tesla, Microsoft, or Gilead Sciences and see a familiar pattern: their themes are operationalised through the organisation's competitive positioning and operating model design. It moves from an idea to a system.

Consider Tesla’s commitment to electrification. The theme is clear, but what makes it powerful is how deeply it shapes the operating model. Vertical integration, battery research, software capability, and manufacturing all reinforce the same focus. The operating choices are consistent with the theme, which means the company compounds capability in one direction over time.

This is the part of Thematic Strategy that leaders benefit from the most. Alignment occurs when an operating model follows the selected theme. That might mean, for example, new processes, new sequencing of work, a tighter set of metrics, or a redesigned governance.

The firms that succeed build the organisation so that everyday decisions reflect long-term priorities. When that happens, themes stop being ideas and become the foundation of how the business runs.

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I write about Thematic Strategy - a method for leveraging drivers of technological and social change to achieve market dominance.

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