Meta‐abilities and the implementation of strategy : Knowing what to do is simply not enough

Implementation is widely recognised as one of the greatest Achilles’ Heels for all strategy initiatives. Many organisations have tried to overcome this problem through building the management competencies of their managers. What tends to be absent from the development programmes designed to do this is attention to any higher order or enabling competencies, sometimes referred to as meta‐abilities. Without greater attention to these more fundamental managerial attributes, most management development programmes will lose their strategic impact. A case study is used to illustrate the sort of pitfalls involved and some implications for using management development in this way are suggested. Finally, it is noted that using management development to improve strategy implementation demands a more sophisticated approach than tends to be used currently. However, this will also require organisations to break out of the vicious circle of unsophisticated usage and to challenge their current practices.