Too often companies stop there and say,
and therefore are strategy should be focusing on these great new areas.
In fact, we don't think that is the most important,
that's actually less than half the equation.
So, the second part of what we do is to say,
what is it about the company today that is unique?
What are the few capabilities that a company has
that distinguishes it from other similar companies that they can build on to say
we are going to continue to outperform because we are better at these things.
And it’s putting those two parts together, where’s the market and
where’s it headed and what’s attractive in that market.
What’s great about the company, what are the few capabilities the company has that
are distinguished from its competitors.
And say where's the sweet spot of where those two come together.
What therefore needs to be built more fully to realize that and
that's where actually the strategy is.
It's the intersection of what a company does great and continue to build to do
great with, where our market's headed and therefore what's going to be valued.
So, what are a few things that we've learned along the way about, how to make
sure that a strategy is going to be successful versus those that may not be?
So, a couple of the typical problems you run into developing
a strategy that doesn't realize its potential.
I think one of the most traditional ones is, it's a great academic exercise,
it looks great on paper.
It doesn't really change what happens within a company,
at least not sufficiently to deliver on the promise of a strategy.
I think second potential challenge is
people can't articulate the implications on the strategy.
They can't articulate how about to translate to this company being different
than another company it's competing with.
So, the strategy starts to sound pretty similar across different companies and yet
not all companies can succeed using the same strategy.
So, a couple things I think we find helpful to do,
that anyone who's engaging in strategy consulting should think about.
First, is it's actually very helpful to go outside in first.
So, can you articulate across a series of companies in an industry?
How were their strategies the same and how were they different.
So, before you even get into changing an individual company strategy, can you
articulate what's common and what's different across the different companies?
It's a harder exercise, I think than many people realize, but you get a sharper view
on the differences than if you just start with a company's own strategy.
I'd say is first.
The second I'd say is, as you articulate a strategy or
start thinking about the options for a strategy.
Can you at the same breath say, and
how would this mean the company has to likely operate different?
Where do they need to invest differently than they do today?
Where do they need to operate differently in terms of their management team?
Where do they think about getting out of markets or products or services because
they need to invest more heavily in other products, services or markets?
So, a strategy is not complete until you get in the same breath, so
to speak, go through that full exercise of what's the strategy and what
are the implications for how the company needs to be different than it is today.
And I think those are the two things that if you get focused,
in terms of being able to do that in one fell swoop.
How does this really differ from other companies?
And how does this translate how the company needs to operate differently?
You've got a pretty good sense about something that's going to work.
One of the questions we get asked recently often is,
how do you think differently about a fundamental change to a company
strategy versus what is a typically annual process around strategic planning?
And it's a really interesting question because, in some cases a company
has an overall strategy and they go to a strategic planning process.
Looking at their annual and maybe multi year approaches to that strategy and
how it tweaks.
Usually, you don't see a fundamental change in strategy unless there's
a change in leadership, and when you think about it, that's pretty ironic, in that it
takes a change in leadership for a company to completely rethink its strategy.
So, one of the first things we do,
as we talked about in terms of a company's not confident with its strategy
is to really try to tease apart, do you need a tweaking?
Do you need a refinement to that strategy, or is this a transformational thing?
Does the disruption happen in the marketplace and, or your company is
losing its competitive edge that requires something more fundamental.
Too often, companies rely on the root processes they go through
rather than they ask themselves the question, when do we need to go down.
Now, one path around a transformative strategy versus when can we go down
a normal annual planning process that leads more to adjustments or
tweaking or refinements to a strategy.
And that's actually an important question to ask a client right up front is,
how do you really want to think about this?
And are you ready to think about a transformational strategy?
Or in fact, you actually have a process.
You feel confident in your overall strategy, and
you really know about how to get it stronger.
So, with all the different strategic tools out there to be used, how do you make sure
you don't just go through a process to develop a strategy on the back end, versus
you really are thinking fundamentally about what's going to be successful.
Which is a really important question to consider, because frankly, there are a lot
of tools that can be very successful in helping a company think about strategic
choices and the trade offs, and therefore the resulting strategy of the company.