Friday 18 November 2016

OPERATIONALIZING STRATEGY

OPERATIONALIZING STRATEGY

All strategy can be simplified into the three questions: Where am I now? Where do I want to be? How do I get there? The questions are easy. The answers however are very complex giving rise to lots of theories, business models and books.

Ask 10 people where they are and despite being in the same place they may well give different answers:  in a room, in a building, on a street, in a town, the sheer number of ways that the question could be answered is thought provoking. Ask them where they want to be and the range of possible answers becomes infinite.

Imagine therefore how difficult it must be to gain consensus on where you are in the context of something intangible. Where are you in people’s thinking? Where are you in market expectation? Opinion polls struggle to answer this and for a Leader seeking to create consensus on position, plan and progress this is a challenge. Is this why the current period is being described as post-truth (fact-free) period of politics and change?

“Where am I now”  Isn’t as simple as No9 product in the UK market
It is increasingly a statement of values and beliefs rather than position.

“Where do I want to be” Isn’t as simple as Be the No1 product in the UK market
It is increasingly a statement of hope and opportunity rather than a place.

“How do I get there” Isn’t as simple as Cut costs, rationalize distribution and grow market share.
It is increasingly a statement about attitude and perception rather than physical changes.

In each case there is a need to curate the messages and meaning that motivate and direct energy, but also a corresponding need to ensure that the energy is being focused on the Critical Success Factors that make a difference.

It could be said that Operationalizing Strategy demands a unique blend of leadership and management. It is often said that leadership is about doing the right things, whereas management is about doing things right.

Often Leadership comes out on top as being the more important. However following big changes which will come from Trump and Brexit you may be wishing for a balance between rhetoric and fact, vision and implementation.

Vision without action is merely a dream. Action without vision just passes the time. Vision with action can change the world.( Joel A. Barker)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Tim Rogers is an AMPG Qualified Change Practitioner, a PRINCE2 Project Manager, with an MBA in Management Consultancy. Past projects have included the incorporation of Ports of Jersey and Operations Change and Sales Support for RBSI and NatWest. He is a tutor/lecturer for the Chartered Management Institute, and  a past curator for TEDx (TEDTalks)

Web: http://www. AdaptConsultingCompany.com
Twitter: @AdaptCCompany

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