StrategyPrototypingPart1: The Challenge

White Paper 10:
Strategy Prototyping Part 1: The Challenge

Beyond The SWOT Analysis: Leap into the Future and
Look Around — Another Way of Thinking About Strategy

An anecdote from Len Schlesinger, President of Babson College

The President-Elect of a venerable university stood with the Provost as
they prepared to march out in procession for the inaugural ceremony. The
Provost was chatting with the President-to-be.

“The faculty is ready and eager to embark on the journey of analysis to our
new strategy. We are ready for a full year’s work, and we look forward to
getting started next Saturday,“ said the Provost proudly, resplendent in his
ceremonial academic robe.

“Yes, I am glad they are ready. And yes, we will get started next Saturday,”
said the new President as they started to walk, “but we will be done by
Tuesday. There is no time to wait.”

The leaders of most organizations probably feel the same way; there is no
time to wait to decide how to move into the future. As markets and
technologies evolve, all sizes and kinds of organizations need to learn to
flex with the changes. The challenge for all these entities is to define what
the future means for them. How can organizations remain sustainable and
viable in achieving their missions? What does growth mean? How should
they change?

The strategic questions that organizations face are difficult, and, at first,
seem like compromises with no obviously correct choice. The answers
often reflect potential payoffs, but also uncertain and seemingly
unknowable consequences.

How does a business expand? Should a business add new services for
existing clients or go into new demographic areas to serve more clients?
Will the client base support a new direction? Will the brand stay intact
after stretching beyond its original image?

In small- or medium-size businesses, these decisions are often explored in
informal discussions, at the end of busy days or at periodic retreats or
“blue sky meetings”, if at all. Strategic decision making in smaller
companies may not be as high a priority as fulfilling orders, sales, and
operational efficiency. Some decisions might be considered as strategic,
when they really aren’t. New hires that stem from growth, investing in new
equipment, changing vendors are decisions that will help an organization
grow, to be sure, but they don’t really involve new forays of thinking about
products, markets and processes.

In larger organizations, the problem isn’t so much developing direction—
coming up with new strategies is a major C-Suite’s function-- but making
certain that everyone in the organization shares a consistent strategic
mental model. The challenge is to gain alignment not only in what the
organization will do to grow or change, but how it will be done. Developing
consensus across any organization is a significant, ongoing and well-
documented implementation test. As Collis and Rukstad lament in “Can
You Say What Your Strategy Is?” (Harvard Business Review, April 2008),

Leaders of firms are mystified when what they thought was a beautifully
crafted strategy is never implemented…They fail to appreciate the
necessity of having a simple, clear, succinct strategy statement that
everyone can internalize and using as a guiding light in making difficult
decisions.

Despite the challenges large and small companies face in answering
questions of growth and change, a strategic direction which provides a
clear picture of the future is still essential. What kind of strategic planning
process best matches the need to be nimble, innovative, and conceptually
clear and, at the same time, ensures buy-in and consistency?

CONTINUE TO WHITE PAPER 10 STRATEGY PROTOTYPING PART 2: WHAT
CAN HELP