Does the question make you feel uncomfortable or uncertain? It is planning season and we are doing the work alongside clients, partners, friends. Some of us, plugged into ground realities, sense seismic shifts in the landscape ahead, and a new S curve is needed. Others assess that it is not necessary to take a zero-base look at your strategy, that the assumptions upon which it is built still hold true and there is still a good runway to go. Small adjustments would keep the ship sailing optimally towards your destination.
Whether we're in scenario 1 or 2, change cycles and reaction times have become shorter and shorter. It hits 100-year old organisations and 1-year organisations alike. The question facing us all is "how do we sustain ___ (you name it) viz the rate of change?".
We are in no way advocating that we should change our strategy like the seasons. For certain, we should not!
What would be our anchors? What is sacroscant or immutable?
How often, beyond the annual work plan review, should we really be taking a harder mid-stream look at our strategy - what's working, what's not, and how has the internal and external environment changed?
What significant internal changes have occured or are about to occur that may call for a review of your strategy?
When the strategy is "not working", is it a failure of commitment and management will, and organisational buy-in or a set-and-charge ahead activity without a pause-reflection rhythm for distinct relevance?
What then is "working" about the strategy and must be defended? What's "not working" and calls for courage to stop?
What must be added and at what cost?
At DPI, we are dead serious about application and real, actionable change. Beyond frameworks, case studies and a theorectical exercise, we do 1-days with client-partners that provide the process skills and tools to communicate, facilitate and drive the start of a productive review process using your specific situations. We work with you to build scenarios, assess and converge on the best-balanced pivot or Strategic Option, and considerations of the shorter-to-longer term strategy continuum.
Don't waste precious time going through the motion. Find or codify a repeatable process that works for you and don't be afraid to iterate with some of the above points in mind.
Final food for thought - running programmes that are good on paper will no longer ensure survival. While we shouldn't transform for transformation's sake, are we clear and confident about the lasting impact we are co-creating in the communities we serve AND communicating that impact?
The review process may prove that your strategy is right, or, help you get it right for your organisation at the sweet spot of Your Time x The Times. All the best!
