An Experienced Executive ≠ Good Strategist
Look for Foxes, not Hedgehogs
What do you look at when hiring an executive?
I bet their work experience is the top priority for you.
And this is not always a great idea.
We can understand work experience in two dimensions.
The first dimension is the number of professional years. But if a person has spent 25 years doing the same things, it doesn’t make them a great executive.
The second dimension is the variety and complexity of the task they’ve solved. It sounds better.
But it’s not enough to be a great strategist.
An experienced executive knows what works well and what doesn’t. But it also narrows down their repertoire of creative decisions.
I’ve conducted strategic retreats where executives with decades of experience tried to come up with innovative ideas. You would have cried looking at it.
Strategy is not about doing the same things better than we’ve done.
And it’s not about doing things better than others.
Strategy is about doing what nobody has ever done before.
No executive has experience in what no one else has done.
