A strategy that endures
Strategy, a key business principal used across nearly every organization, market, and industry. In my roles as an innovation and design consultant for a big four consulting firm as well as a marketing consultant for a boutique agency where we focused on enabling organizations to become more agile and customer-centric, I’ve taken part in many areas of strategy design through execution. Across organizations the approach and final output can vary along the spectrum of rigid to fluid. However, at the core, they generally consist of quite a bit of analysis, brokering leadership and department buy-in, followed by a lot of execution energy. Unfortunately, this energy can fade in time to business as usual. And, that exciting new strategy ends up finding its way to a dusty digital bookshelf.
Today I am working towards a Master’s degree in Strategic Design and Management at The New School at Parsons, one of the top design universities in the world, a professor in one of our classes posed the question:
“Does a business need a strategy? If so why? Is strategy ever done? If no, how is strategy forever?”
The short answer — YES! In my opinion it is critical for all businesses to have a strategy. The strategy can be at the corporate, department, team, or product level, as long as there is a strategy. Creating a well-defined strategy enables an organization to “circle the wagons” around a common goal and supports each business unit in understanding how they fit and contribute value towards a shared goal.
I often see middle managers and business leaders throw around the “we need to think more strategic,” or cringe when they hear the annual strategic plan is coming due. Often times the larger the organization - the more cumbersome and lengthy the strategic process. This type of strategic planning appears to be more of a “check the box” exercise vs. a dynamic intention for growth.
At the tactical level, you can have a strategy with a discrete lifespan, e.g. product launch strategy, business development strategy, etc. However, at the organizational level I believe the strategy is never truly complete. Organizations are faced with planning a way to capture a moving target, that is the market is constantly changing. Tomorrow may reveal a completely new set of challenges that were never considered during the strategic planning process. With the belief a strategy should not be created as a result of a singular event, or altered as reactionary response to a single data point, it is critical for organizations to develop a strategic intent that creates a framework of flexible structure.
We are an evolutionary species, and it only makes sense the organizations, products and services we create evolve as well. We must have a living strategic intent that is built upon a foundation of principles and goals that provide direction while enabling speed and adaptability in how we get there to account for changes in market conditions.
If organizations are able to build an internal approach to strategic planning that leverages cultural strength, has a direct line of communication to their customers, and creates a flexible platform that supports rapid, intentional, and measured adjustments, then their strategy will be able to endure changes across industry, markets, and customer preferences.
How does your organization approach strategic planning through execution?
