The 70% Disconnection: When Stakeholders Feel Unheard
Stakeholders feel unheard in top-down strategy processes
The 70% Disconnection: When Stakeholders Feel Unheard
In traditional NHS strategy development, 70% of stakeholders report feeling disconnected from the process. They're consulted, but not meaningfully engaged. Their input is collected, but they don't see it reflected in the final strategy. This disconnection creates a critical problem: strategies that look good on paper but fail to get implemented because the people who need to implement them don't feel ownership.
The Consultation Illusion
Most NHS strategy processes claim to be "consultative." They hold consultation meetings, send out surveys, and collect feedback. But consultation isn't the same as engagement.
The Consultation Process:
- Strategy written by senior team
- Consultation meetings held
- Feedback collected
- Feedback "considered"
- Strategy finalised (often with minimal changes)
- Strategy presented as "consultative"
The Problem: Stakeholders are consulted, but not engaged. Their input is collected, but they don't see how it influenced the outcome. They feel heard, but not understood.
Why 70% Feel Disconnected
The 70% disconnection rate comes from several factors:
1. Top-Down Approach
Most strategy processes start at the top. Senior leadership decides what needs to be done, then consults others. By the time consultation happens, the direction is largely set.
The Result: Stakeholders feel like their input doesn't matter because decisions are already made.
2. Feedback Not Reflected
When stakeholders provide feedback, they often don't see it reflected in the final strategy. Their concerns are noted, but not addressed. Their suggestions are considered, but not incorporated.
The Result: Stakeholders feel ignored, even though they were consulted.
3. No Genuine Dialogue
Consultation meetings are often one-way: stakeholders provide input, but there's no genuine dialogue about how that input will be used. Questions go unanswered, concerns go unaddressed.
The Result: Stakeholders feel like their input disappears into a black hole.
4. Implementation Disconnect
Even when stakeholders are consulted during development, they're often not involved in implementation planning. The strategy is developed, then handed down for implementation.
The Result: Stakeholders feel disconnected from both the strategy and its implementation.
The Cost of Disconnection
The 70% disconnection creates significant costs:
Implementation Failure:
- Strategies that don't get implemented
- Resistance from staff who don't feel ownership
- Sabotage (passive or active) from disconnected stakeholders
- Result: Strategies that fail despite looking good on paper
Organizational Damage:
- Loss of trust in leadership
- Cynicism about strategy processes
- Reduced engagement in future initiatives
- Result: Harder to engage stakeholders in future strategies
Wasted Resources:
- Time spent developing strategies that fail
- Resources allocated but not used effectively
- Opportunity cost of failed initiatives
- Result: £80,000 wasted on strategies that don't work
The Co-Creation Alternative
The alternative to consultation is co-creation: bringing stakeholders together to create the strategy, not just comment on it.
Co-Creation Process:
- Problem Framing: All stakeholders together understand the challenge
- Systems Mapping: Together map the system and identify leverage points
- Solution Design: Together design solutions that fit the context
- Strategy Development: Together create the strategy document
- Implementation Planning: Together plan how to implement
The Result: 100% engagement because everyone participated in creating the strategy.
How Insight Genie and Dynamic Genie Solve This
The 70% disconnection problem requires both diagnosis and solution. Insight Genie identifies where disconnection occurs, and Dynamic Genie transforms the process to eliminate it.
Insight Genie: Diagnosing Disconnection
Insight Genie reveals where stakeholders feel disconnected by collecting insights from staff and stakeholders over 1-2 weeks through focused questions. This provides visibility into:
- Where disconnection occurs: Which stakeholders feel unheard and why
- Root causes: What creates the disconnection (top-down approach, feedback not reflected, etc.)
- Patterns: Common themes across stakeholder groups
- Impact: How disconnection affects strategy development and implementation
The Insight Genie Approach:
- Stakeholder Insight Collection: 3 focused questions over 1-2 weeks (not "death by questionnaire")
- Pattern Analysis: Identify where and why disconnection occurs
- Friction Point Identification: Reveal specific barriers to engagement
- Pre-Session Intelligence: Understand stakeholder perspectives before co-creation
The Result: Clear visibility into disconnection patterns, enabling targeted interventions.
Dynamic Genie: Creating Genuine Engagement
Dynamic Genie transforms strategy development from consultation to co-creation. Instead of consulting stakeholders after the strategy is written, all stakeholders participate in creating it together.
The Dynamic Genie Approach:
- Pre-Session Intelligence: Uses Insight Genie data to understand stakeholder perspectives before the session
- Structured Co-Creation: All stakeholders together in real-time
- Equal Participation: Everyone's voice heard and incorporated
- Immediate Ownership: Everyone owns the result because they created it
The Result: Strategies with 100% stakeholder engagement, not 30%.
The Combined Solution
When used together, Insight Genie and Dynamic Genie provide a complete solution:
- Insight Genie diagnoses where disconnection occurs and why
- Dynamic Genie uses that intelligence to design targeted co-creation sessions
- Result: Strategies with genuine stakeholder engagement from diagnosis through creation
The Difference: Consultation vs Co-Creation
Consultation:
- Strategy written, then stakeholders consulted
- Feedback collected, but not necessarily incorporated
- Stakeholders feel heard, but not engaged
- Result: 70% disconnection
Co-Creation:
- Stakeholders participate in creating the strategy
- Their input is incorporated because they're creating it
- Stakeholders feel ownership because they created it
- Result: 100% engagement
Breaking the Disconnection Pattern
Breaking the 70% disconnection pattern requires changing how we approach strategy:
From: Top-down consultation To: Co-creation with all stakeholders
From: Collecting feedback after strategy is written To: Creating strategy together from the start
From: Presenting strategy for approval To: Co-creating strategy that everyone owns
Conclusion
The 70% disconnection in NHS strategy development isn't inevitable. It's a product of the consultation approach that collects feedback but doesn't meaningfully engage stakeholders.
By switching to co-creation, we can transform 70% disconnection into 100% engagement, creating strategies that everyone owns and implements.
If you're struggling with stakeholder disconnection in your strategy process, Insight Genie can help you diagnose where disconnection occurs, and Dynamic Genie can help you break the pattern and create genuine engagement through co-creation.
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