Get out of the Dark Room to Build a Clear Strategy

You can improve your strategy by shifting from an analogue approach to a digital approach. Here I share my insights in leadership and strategy in this disruptive world we live in.

In a recent article I discussed how all significant initiatives in your business begin with a well thought-out, clear strategy — whether it’s change management, implementation of an Agile process, or the development of an innovation program.

However, there seems to be a lack of confidence in the ability of strategy to deliver results when speed and agility is required.

The Analogue approach vs Digital approach

One of the problems we see, is the way organisations practice strategy — that is separating the formulation from the execution of strategy. This separation is what we term an analogue approach. Instead, we are advocating that a digital approach be adopted.

The analogue approach can be likened to traditional photography, with the use of a dark room to develop your picture. In this situation, we take time to take the perfect picture, and then wait for the photo to be developed. The final picture however cannot be changed once the process is completed.

The digital approach, on the other hand, is where we take the picture, review it immediately, and then keep on clicking until we get a picture that we are satisfied with.

It is the digital approach that we see as being critical for organisations to adopt.

Why a Digital approach?

A digital approach addresses three of the common failings of the traditional analogue strategy. A digital approach will:

include a much wider set of views in the organisation by integrating the views of people who normally formulate the strategy with those who normally execute the strategy. The understanding of the market is likely to be more complete
build a strong rationale (the “why”) for the strategy through the organisation right from the beginning of the process
achieve a higher level of engagement and commitment to the strategy.

What are the key differences between an analogue approach and the digital approach?

How do we achieve the digital approach/methodology to create a clear strategy?

My colleague Lisa Carlin and I have identified 4 processes to achieving a digital approach to a clear strategy:

An open strategy development process immerses a representative cross-section of people in the organisation, not just the board or senior executives
A many-to-many, synchronous communication process occurs between those responsible for developing the strategy, and the rest of the organisation. Furthermore, the process is not periodic, it is an ongoing working methodology with staff at different levels — often termed a ‘co-designed’ approach
A seamless integration between strategy formulation and execution phases takes place through an iterative Agile process. This means that ideas are trialled through small, low-risk pilots — allowing some ideas to occur concurrently with the formulation of other ideas
Technology platforms offer a number of tools that can speed up this process, many of which can be used in a hybrid working environment. These include tools for engagement, productivity, communication and training.

You may be interested to watch my latest video below...

The 3 Horizons of Strategy - What it Really Means

About Norman

Dr Norman Chorn is a highly experienced business strategist helping leaders build highly successful and resilient organisations. Well known to many as the ‘business doctor’! By integrating the principles of neuroscience with strategy and economics Norman achieves innovative approaches to achieve peak performance within organisations.

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Part 3: Accelerate Performance With Strategic Alignment - Develop The Appropriate Culture

By Norman Chorn • 27 Mar, 2023

In my previous article "Accelerate Performance with Strategic Alignment - Define the logic of your strategy", we demonstrated the alignment between the market and business strategy by matching the logic of the market with the logic of the strategy. The Explore logic emphasises a market where customers seek new solutions for emerging requirements. The strategy responds by exploring new opportunities and driving for growth. The Exploit logic occurs in a more stable market where customers seek lower costs and reliability of supply. The appropriate strategy focuses on operational efficiency and building close customer relationships. Culture is key to shaping the capabilities of the business to successfully implement strategy . It drives the way that people behave, decisions are made and actions are taken. It determines, therefore, the strategy that is actually realised in the market, as opposed to that which is merely intended. We make a key distinction between the desired culture and the appropriate culture. The desired culture is what people may choose because it sounds attractive and in vogue. However, the appropriate culture is the culture that is required to successfully implement the chosen strategy. Often, these can be different. For example, people might seek to develop a culture that is ‘innovative’, ‘flexible’ and ‘empowering’, but this may not be the appropriate culture needed to successfully implement the business strategy. DEVELOP THE APPROPRIATE CULTURE FOR YOUR STRATEGY Developing the appropriate culture requires a deliberate emphasis on certain cultural attributes and making trade-offs on others. As we will see, the attributes that are traded off are usually the opposites of those that are emphasised.

Part 2: Accelerate Performance with Strategic Alignment - Define the Logic of your Strategy

By Norman Chorn • 27 Mar, 2023

In Part 1 "How to Accelerate Performance with Strategic Alignment - Understand the Logic of the Market" we outlined different market conditions and defined them in terms of two overarching logics — Exploring and Exploiting . To briefly recap, an Exploring logic is one where customers are seeking new solutions for emerging needs. It’s all about change and action. An Exploiting logic occurs in a more stable market in which the issues are about lowering costs and working collaboratively with customers. It’s a market that focuses on stability and cohesion. FORCES THAT SHAPE YOUR STRATEGY Clearly, it is one of these two logics — or a combination of both — that will shape your strategy as you operate in these markets. See figure 1 below that describes how these logics will form your business strategy: