ShareThis.png)
At a workshop a few years ago, a strategic planning expert said that strategy is like building a bathroom: you hire the plumber, choose the design, put in the plumbing, buy the toilet bowl and the appliances, install them, paint the bathroom, and so forth.
Most workshop participants nodded in agreement and took keen notes.
Four months later, the mortgage crisis hit that ended up taking down venerable companies like Lehman Brothers, and pushed other venerable companies, like AIG, to the edge of the abyss.
We argue that these two events are connected. The mainstream way of thinking about strategy not only gives “experts” a bad name. It is also the type of thinking that fails in practice. And it is possibly the type of thinking that contributes to companies getting stuck in the status quo.
Already a decade before, we had asked ourselves what strategy approach would yield sustainable success. Now that the crisis rocked the United States and reverberated around the world, causing millions of people to lose their jobs, their homes, and their investments, it dawned upon us that the calamity was merely a symptom of a deeper malady.
Corporate and government strategy is all too often designed behind closed doors and imposed top-down, the implementers have no voice in its design, and most stakeholders are either cogs in the firm’s wheel or excluded from strategic thinking altogether.
It is no wonder that this linear, one time, A-to-B approach is inadequate to meet the demands of an increasingly dynamic environment that imposes a higher velocity of change with each passing day.
Most workshop participants nodded in agreement and took keen notes.
Four months later, the mortgage crisis hit that ended up taking down venerable companies like Lehman Brothers, and pushed other venerable companies, like AIG, to the edge of the abyss.
We argue that these two events are connected. The mainstream way of thinking about strategy not only gives “experts” a bad name. It is also the type of thinking that fails in practice. And it is possibly the type of thinking that contributes to companies getting stuck in the status quo.
Already a decade before, we had asked ourselves what strategy approach would yield sustainable success. Now that the crisis rocked the United States and reverberated around the world, causing millions of people to lose their jobs, their homes, and their investments, it dawned upon us that the calamity was merely a symptom of a deeper malady.
Corporate and government strategy is all too often designed behind closed doors and imposed top-down, the implementers have no voice in its design, and most stakeholders are either cogs in the firm’s wheel or excluded from strategic thinking altogether.
It is no wonder that this linear, one time, A-to-B approach is inadequate to meet the demands of an increasingly dynamic environment that imposes a higher velocity of change with each passing day.
Traditional strategy is good for building a house or a sewage system for Mumbai; it is not good enough for complexity, unpredictable change, or any endeavor that involves people.
It dawned upon us that business must retool its strategy principles and practices, or it will be condemned to repeat history and be rocked again by the tsunamis that get unleashed when planners devise static, top-down strategies for nations or companies, as happened from Chrysler to GM, from Circuit City to The Sharper Image, from Linens ‘n Things to Germany’s Escada, from Air America Radio to Wachovia, from Bear Stearns to Washington Mutual, from Lehman Brothers to Iceland’s Landsbanki.
But how do you do it?
There is a dearth of books about the real, down-to-earth How of managing strategy design-and-implementation in the 21st century, with its multiple stakeholders, empowered consumers, culture change, the Internet, transformative technologies, and constantly changing strategic landscapes.
But how do you do it?
There is a dearth of books about the real, down-to-earth How of managing strategy design-and-implementation in the 21st century, with its multiple stakeholders, empowered consumers, culture change, the Internet, transformative technologies, and constantly changing strategic landscapes.
When the rubber meets the road, how do you build vision and strategy in a way that your people align around them?
How do you get the perspectives of all key stakeholders without watering down the focus or wasting time?
How do integrate the strong egos of your executives in the team without losing creativity, ideas or innovation?
How do you combine planning and action in a single seamless process?
How do you mobilize people for strategic, catalytic action?
How do you deal with pushback, with breakdowns in communication, with domestic implementers or international partners who feel left out?
How do you make sure you get early feedback from the action so you can see if you’re on the right track before it’s too late—and before you run up millions of dollars in sunk costs?
How do you get the perspectives of all key stakeholders without watering down the focus or wasting time?
How do integrate the strong egos of your executives in the team without losing creativity, ideas or innovation?
How do you combine planning and action in a single seamless process?
How do you mobilize people for strategic, catalytic action?
How do you deal with pushback, with breakdowns in communication, with domestic implementers or international partners who feel left out?
How do you make sure you get early feedback from the action so you can see if you’re on the right track before it’s too late—and before you run up millions of dollars in sunk costs?
“What we are really trying to do,” said David Ulrich, a professor of business administration at the University of Michigan, ”is say that leaders need an integrated set of tools around both behaviors and results which will deliver firm strategy and the combination of behaviors and results.”
That is exactly right—in theory. As Albert Einstein put it tongue-in-cheek, “In theory, theory and practice are the same. In practice, they are not." If you don't know what Einstein meant, watch this short IBM video.
Exhortations to “engage all parts of the organization” or “invite people” or “maximize participation” or the principle that “Strategy making must be subversive” or “democratic” are completely correct but woefully inadequate.
They sound good on paper, but so what? How does that help you on Monday morning in the office when push comes to shove and things go so fast that you cannot see the wood for the new trees that have grown over the weekend?
Feel free to visit Amazon.com and use the "Look Inside!" feature to read a free chapter.
What do you see? What strategy approach is needed for the 21st century? Where do you see best (and worst) strategy practices? I look forward to reading you on my blog: http://thomaszweifel.blogspot.com/.
What do you see? What strategy approach is needed for the 21st century? Where do you see best (and worst) strategy practices? I look forward to reading you on my blog: http://thomaszweifel.blogspot.com/.
No comments:
Post a Comment