For many, Memorial Day weekend is the unofficial start of summer.

Here in NW Oregon, we joke that the official start of summer is actually the 5th of July because that is when the rain finally stops until late September.

As the weather changes, routines shift. Kids get out of school. Vacations get booked. Golf courses fill up. Calendars become packed.

What often takes a back seat during this time of year is revisiting the strategic goals that were set six months earlier.

Many business owners completed their annual strategic planning sometime around November or December. At the time, the goals felt exciting, focused, and achievable.

Now here we are heading into June.

And it is time to ask an important question:

Are we actually on track?

Recently, we had our client, The YES Weddings https://www.theyesweddings.com/ , in our weekly meeting, reach out and ask, “Hey, can we get a refresh?”

So we stopped and did exactly that. 

We reviewed everything that had been accomplished over the previous six months, reflected on the wins, identified where things had stalled, and adjusted priorities for the second half of the year.

It ended up being one of the most valuable meetings we had with them this year.

Not only did it reignite excitement around the progress already made, but it also created clarity around what needed to happen next in order to finish the year strong.

Sometimes leaders become so focused on what still needs to happen that they forget how much progress has already been made.

That mid-year reset matters.

Research from Harvard Business Review has shown that nearly two-thirds of strategies fail not because the vision was wrong, but because execution breaks down along the way.

That is why June is such an important checkpoint.

Keep. Start. Stop.

One exercise I continue to love during these reviews is the simple “Keep, Start, Stop” process.

What should you KEEP doing because it is clearly working?

What should you START doing that perhaps should have been tracked earlier?

And what should you STOP doing because it is no longer creating meaningful value?

Simple questions often create powerful clarity.

One of the biggest problems in growing companies is that teams continue investing time, energy, and resources into projects or habits that no longer move the business forward.

In the book, The 4 Disciplines of Execution, https://www.amazon.com/Disciplines-Execution-Achieving-Wildly-Important/dp/145162705X refers to this as “the whirlwind”, the day-to-day activity that slowly pulls organizations away from their most important strategic objectives. (This is one of my most recommended books if you have not read it already.)

And if you are not careful, that whirlwind will consume the entire year.

Are Your Projects Green, Yellow, or Red?

Another area to evaluate is project status.

Are your strategic initiatives on track?

Or are they quietly drifting behind schedule?

Too often, businesses avoid confronting reality because they are emotionally invested in the original plan.

But strategy is not about protecting ego.

It is about making adjustments before small problems become expensive ones.

Look honestly at the status of your major initiatives:

• What is green and moving forward?

• What is yellow and at risk?

• What is red and needs intervention now?

A delayed decision in June can become a major year-end problem by November.

McKinsey research has shown that organizations capable of making faster strategic decisions consistently outperform slower competitors in growth and profitability.

In business, delayed decisions often become expensive decisions.

How Is the Financial Side Looking?

Next, look at the numbers, not just your bank account.

How is revenue performing compared to expectations?

How are margins holding up?

Have economic conditions impacted your business more than expected?

For many businesses, shrinking margins are no longer hypothetical. No surprise, but the U.S. Chamber of Commerce continues to report inflation, labor costs, insurance increases, and operating expenses as top concerns impacting profitability.

Maybe fuel costs, labor expenses, tariffs, or vendor increases have quietly chipped away at your margins during the first half of the year.

If your margins have slipped even 5%, that can have a dramatic impact on year-end profitability.

The question is not whether conditions changed.

They always do.

The question is: what adjustments are YOU making?

Maybe it is time for a pricing adjustment.

Maybe it is implementing a fuel surcharge.

Maybe it is eliminating low-margin work that is consuming valuable capacity.

The businesses that win are not always the ones that avoid challenges.

Often, they are simply the ones that respond faster.

Do the Right People Have the Right Support?

The next area to evaluate is your people strategy.

Is there a project or initiative that has stalled for months?

Have you been hearing “I’ve got this” repeatedly without meaningful progress?

At some point, leaders must separate optimism from results.

That does not always mean someone is failing. Sometimes they simply need additional support, coaching, accountability, or resources.

Other times, it may mean bringing in outside expertise.

McKinsey research has shown that nearly 70% of transformation initiatives fail, often because of accountability breakdowns, poor communication, or lack of leadership alignment.

One of the most expensive mistakes companies make is waiting too long to ask for help.

Six months can disappear quickly.

The cost of delay is often far greater than the cost of getting support.

Don’t Just Review. Take Action.

The goal of a mid-year refresh is not simply to create another meeting.

It is to create movement.

Adjust timelines.

Refocus priorities.

Have difficult conversations.

Celebrate the wins.

Reallocate resources.

Bring in help where needed.

Because whether you realize it or not, it is halftime in your business year.

And the second half is about to begin.

The good news?

There is still plenty of time to win.

Speaking of Winning 

Our clients S2 Imaging https://www.s2imaging.com/  recently move and held their open house on Tuesday in Forest Grove. Go see them at their new location: 

3847 24th Ave

Forest Grove, OR 97116

503-282-1141

For many, Memorial Day weekend, is the unofficial start of summer. Here in NW Oregon, we joke that the official day is the 5th of July, because that is when the rain generally stops until late September.

What often takes a back seat is forgetting about those strategic goals that were set six months before.

We recently had a client that said…hey, can we get a refresh? So, we stopped, and did that, including reflecting on everything that had been completed over the previous efforts. It was a worthwhile exercise that fired up the client on their success and their summer cut refresh on the goals they needed to hit the 2nd half of the year.