The value of the Strategist as a knowledge worker should be in spotting those key blind spots that many an executive and senior/top management in the business could be oblivious to due to their focus on stoking the fires of the current business.
If this assertion is true, why did supposedly nimble companies finding it difficult to navigate the implications of the 2008 economic metldown. Job losses could an indication that the majority of the companies out there were caught off guard BUT still could not in a timely manner starve off the threat to their staff's jobs and in the process failed to retain some of the valuable business they may have been providing.
Where were the strategists in these companies and what could they offer which proved less appealing to the majority of employees? How are these obviously ruffled employees supposed to still have belief in the notion and concept of strategy? We should do more, we should be able to always be helping introduce new business lines/portfolios.
Monday, 24 October 2011
Sunday, 9 October 2011
The tills are ringing, is it because of your strategy?
Strategy development is a supposed to be a dynamic process whose intended outcomes should be a better company in the eyes of all KEY stakeholder, namely Customers; Shareholder; Employees; Suppliers; Competitors; Management; Boards, etc.
Whether a consulting entity helped the strategy development process or you knuckled down and developed this yourself, beyond a specific defined and agreed to date, the tills must start to ring to show that the strategy was to an extent spot on. What if the tills ring BUT its not because of the approved strategy. What if your employees adapted your strategy to ensure that the tills ring in the short term thus guaranteing their bonuses? Does it really matter in the short-term or what about in the medium term and eventually in the long term? What if you are responsible for generating short term gains with the hope that the mid to long term will take care of itself? What rules exist to mitigate gainst these shortsighted behaviours. Should strategists be on the look out for such practices and disown them?
Whether a consulting entity helped the strategy development process or you knuckled down and developed this yourself, beyond a specific defined and agreed to date, the tills must start to ring to show that the strategy was to an extent spot on. What if the tills ring BUT its not because of the approved strategy. What if your employees adapted your strategy to ensure that the tills ring in the short term thus guaranteing their bonuses? Does it really matter in the short-term or what about in the medium term and eventually in the long term? What if you are responsible for generating short term gains with the hope that the mid to long term will take care of itself? What rules exist to mitigate gainst these shortsighted behaviours. Should strategists be on the look out for such practices and disown them?
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