Motivation Is the Hard Part: Why Strategy Depends on People

Motivation Is the Hard Part: Why Strategy Depends on People

You can’t deliver strategy without motivation.

Much of my career has been spent helping organisations set strategy and improve operations. That work has structure: problem-solving methods, processes, and often clear answers.

But at Kholo, the challenge we’re focused on is different. It’s not about the plan — it’s about the people.

From Strategy and Operations to Motivation

The real question is: how do you keep teams motivated and aligned in human ways?

This is unstructured problem-solving. It’s emotional, messy, and often invisible. And yet, it’s the difference between strategies that succeed and those that never land.

Why Motivation Remains the Missing Link

We’re still unlearning outdated ideas from the industrial age, when people were treated as cogs in a system.

Back in 2009, Daniel Pink made the case in Drive that money is not the main motivator. Instead, people thrive on purpose, mastery, and autonomy. Fifteen years later, those insights still haven’t fully landed in business practice.

The same goes for Maria Montessori, whose The Absorbent Mind was published in 1949. Reading her decades later, her insights about human potential felt strikingly relevant. Often, we know what needs to change — but systems lag behind.

Moving Beyond Outdated Leadership Models

If motivation is missing, strategy falls flat. Leaders need to create organisations that recognise motivation as the foundation, not an afterthought.

That means moving beyond money as the only incentive and embracing the human drivers of energy and commitment.

Building Organisations That Energise and Align People

So how do we design organisations where people feel energised, trusted, and connected?

According to Daniel Pink, the answer lies in intrinsic motivators:

• Purpose — knowing why the work matters
• Mastery — having space to grow and improve
• Autonomy — being trusted to decide how to deliver

When these are present, motivation becomes sustainable — and strategy can succeed.

Kholo’s Approach: Embedding Motivation Into Leadership

At Kholo, we help leadership teams design human-centred systems where motivation is built in. We support leaders to:

• Align purpose with organisational design
• Build trust-based cultures that energise people
• Create space for autonomy and mastery

Because strategy only works when people care enough to deliver it.

Conclusion: Strategy Only Works When People Care

Plans are necessary. But they are never enough. Motivation is the hard part — and the most important.

At Kholo, we help organisations align strategy with motivation through leadership and organisational design. Book a call with Kholo.