Introducing strategy design

Strategy Design or Strategy Sculpting involves helping organizations exploit opportunities in their present and future. It assumes that leaders need to make quick decisions in a rapidly changing and complex environment. It assumes an unpredictable future - the present and future are no longer what they used to be.

We help organizations to prepare for this uncertain future, and to become and remain successful while they fulfill their purpose.

The failure of traditional strategic planning

• Very few strategies (about 10%) are executed as planned (Fortune Magazine, May 2002)
• Almost 80% of companies have a formal strategic planning event (HBR, Sep. 2006)
  
• Yet only 23% use these events for making their most important strategic decisions (HBR, Sep. 2006)
• Only 45% of polled CEOs were happy with their strategic decisions. (HBR, Sep. 2006)

Traditional strategic planning fails because it assumes that we exist in a stable world with a known future, one in which "cause" factors can be identified and their "effects" predicted. It also assumes that simply implementing a detailed plan, and adjusting systems accordingly, will help organizations to succeed in the future. The vast majority of traditional strategies are simply an extrapolation of what worked in the past or variations on the theme.

Traditional strategy manifests in thick ring-bound documents in the corporate bookcase.

The future of strategy

The future of strategy involves accepting an uncertain future full of opportunity, unknown events and conflicting agendas. The leaders of the future accept that the competitive landscape and rules of the game have changed, and that playing by the old rules will no longer get them anywhere. They consider scenarios and ready themselves for whatever might happen - challenge or opportunity.

These leaders no longer spend their time preoccupied with planning, organizing, monitoring and controlling, although elements of this still needs to be done. Instead they invest their energies in developing their capabilities and cultivating proactive and adaptive teams and valuable strategic relationships. They encourage strategic discussions in their offices' corridors and realize the importance of sharing their vision to build momentum within their organizations.

The next generation of strategic leaders are able to make decisions swiftly and execute them with both speed and elegance. Those leaders that hesitate too long at the crossroads and play by the old rules will soon find themselves left behind.

How do we help organizations?

We tend to help organizations in the following ways:

• We help leaders to prepare their organizations for the future.
• We challenge the paradigms and business models within which an organization operates and usually develops its strategy.
  
• Together with the leadership, we review and, if necessary research an organization's strategic context, including the perceptions of its stakeholders.
  
• We assist organizations to find and develop distinctive and competitive advantages.

Letters and Articles submitted to Magazines and Newspapers

• Strategic Acumen: Natural Talent or Something you Learn in an MBA?