Strategy, Gaps and Shifting Landscapes in 2010
Posted by Bernie Ritchie & Deanne Earle on Feb 20, 2010

Here's the latest guest blog from regular Management Sushi guest blogger Deanne Earle, an expert in strategic project management [who is lucky enough to operate virtually on a global scale in the foothills of Turin!]. Deanne talks here about why an organisation needs to ‘mind the gap' between its strategic business goals and the tough challenge of translating these into a constructive and tangible operational strategy.

Reinvention and Shifting Landscapes ....

As a brief aside on operational change, before getting to Deanne's guest blog piece, organisational Transformation, Reinvention and Innovation are all hot topics in 2010 at the moment in terms of key business skills required to face the wildly uncertain times we are living through. Harvard Business Review [HBR} has devoted the entirety of its first 2010 edition [a double issue at that!] to the concept of Reinvention and Transformation. Its front cover urges you in the strongest terms to reinvent ‘your company and your strategy' and to ‘transform your business' to meet today's challenges.

Meanwhile, the Center for Creative Leadership [CCL} has released a new White Paper which looks at the requirement to drive organisational innovation in these uncertain times. CCL argue that while strategy was once ‘king', business uncertainty is so palpable today that even planning for the next quarter has become a real challenge. The solution, they say, is for business leaders to adopt and learn the skills of Innovation Leadership. Innovation skills are key for today's business leaders they say. "They need to create a climate for innovation within organizations, innovative systems, tools and thinking are essential for organisational health and future viability".

In similar vein, HBR in its January-February 2010 ‘Reinvention' issue puts the spotlight on the development of strategy tools for a shifting landscape. Michael G Jacobides, Associate Professor of Strategic and International Management at London Business School, who wrote the article, advises us as follows ... "In an age when nothing is constant, strategy should be defined by narrative - plots, subplots, and characters - rather than by maps, graphs and numbers".

Anyway, enough of uncertainty and shifting business landscapes! Back to Deanne!

Closing the Gap between Business Strategy and Operational Change

Anyone who's been on London's Underground will have heard the world famous warning for passengers. "Mind the Gap" was introduced in 1969 to warn passengers about the space between the train carriage and the platform. Just like passengers in a hurry or who think they know best run the risk of falling between the two, businesses need to maintain conscious awareness of the very real and tangible gap existing between their strategy and desire to achieve effective operational change.

Business Strategies are specific when it comes to the organisation's mission, vision and objectives; Direction is clear, ROI specified, and growth expectations and market share targets listed to support both. Now the challenge starts. This beautifully constructed well thought out strategy must be turned into operational reality and if the strategy is one that sees the business moving through previously uncharted waters, there will be the inevitable changes along the way to operational practises.

In order to successfully translate the strategy, disseminate it through to operations and minimise the pain experienced during times of change, leadership is paramount. In his book "High Flyers - Developing the next generation of leaders", Morgan W. McCall, Jr talks about linking business strategy and executive development. He suggests an "organisations ability to achieve strategic objectives will depend in large part on the leadership ability of executive leaders." This makes perfect sense but what makes an effective leader and how can they reduce this very real gap?

Really good quality effective leaders are generally recognised as those who have developed a high degree of emotional intelligence. William Tate references emotional intelligence in his book "The Search for Leadership - An Organisational Perspective" when he discusses the two halves of organisation life. I've referred to William Tate in previous posts and will continue to do so because I see how his ‘Systems Thinking' approach will transform leadership within organisations. His discussion about the two halves of organisation life sees him refer to what he calls the rational half and the non-rational half. The rational side holds all those elements we fully expect to be associated with a business and its strategy: Strategic plans, Directives, Job Titles, Policies, Organisation Charts, etc. These are if you like, tangible things you can physically touch or at least see pinned up on a wall somewhere; they are documents and diagrams that are reference points along with targets that can be measured as time progresses. Then there's the non-rational half, which is where I firmly believe much more can be achieved at a much faster rate, particularly during times of change. These non-rational factors form the heart of an organisation are where the gold nuggets are to be found: trust, friendship, power, culture, ambition, fears and insecurities, the corridor conversation and grapevine etc.

These non-rational factors are more implicit and concern the "who" rather than the "how". It's these things that effective leaders really understand and act upon. They are tuned-in to emotions, feelings, behaviours and motivations in both themselves and those around them. They can answer the ‘what's in it for me' question, which is just one of many employees ask when they're expected to buy-in to the strategy, work for the good of the company and achieve the objectives set to maximise the ROI to ultimately make the shareholders or investors happy.

So here's my call to action for you. Pull out that strategy and take another look at it. Don't just look at the how, put effort into considering the who and consider all the non-rational factors as it's these that will play a far larger part in delivering a well defined strategy. Only once they are understood will you have the solid foundation to be more effective in closing the gap.

Deanne Earle is Director and Founder of Turin-based change management consultancy Unlike Before. Unlike Before are Business Consultants and Program/Project managers specialising in organisational change and IT-led projects that are complex in nature or in a state of crisis. Deanne and her team are renowned for action; able to show businesses and their people how to make change happen fast visibly, reducing the effects and costs of lost productivity.

Check out all the latest from Unlike Before at www.unlikebefore.com.

Parkours Image Source : Thanks to Moth Smoke Lingers ... 

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