Seven Things Management Teams (Repeatedly) Get Wrong with Strategy Work

Strategy Process Dysfunction and Malfunction—Take Heed

I’ve been exposed to strategy from my first days in product management to my work as a senior executive and now as a strategy advisor/facilitator. I’ve worked with every framework, most major (and quite a few boutique) consulting firms, and I’ve helped dozens of organizations with their strategy work to great success. Along the way, I’ve observed just about every type of dysfunction or malfunction possible with strategy work. Here are the misfires I see most often. Take heed, get the right help, and do everything possible to avoid these tripping points. Your firm’s future and probably your job depends on it.

7 Big Missteps, Misfires, and Dysfunctional Approaches to Strategy

1. Thinking targets are a strategy.

Yeah, this happens a lot. I once observed management team members engage in a form of playground behavior, with each of them suggesting the other wasn’t courageous enough. It was fascinating in a horrifying kind of way as they engaged in this oneupmanship:

“We’ll generate 1,000 new clients next year,” said the first.

“You’re light; I think we can generate 5,000,” said another.

“You’re both not aggressive enough. I say we can generate 10,000 new customers next year,” offered the CEO.

They settled on “Our strategy is to generate 10,000 new customers next year.” Ugh.

In the same vein as the oneupmanship, I wish I had $1,000 for every senior executive who said, “Our strategy is to grow.” I would have a new boat. A big one.

2. Developing monolithic multi-year strategies.

Hey, the world changed. Your three-year strategy is an exercise in fiction writing. Your assumptions will fizzle and fold in the face of change. Strategies today must be fluid, with organizations able to align, adapt, and renew faster than competitors or based on changing market dynamics.

3. Reducing strategy work to glorified operations planning.

This is the most common mistake I encounter with my clients. It’s easy to move into the realm of operations planning. Building new plants, modernizing technology, or moving into new geographies are essential issues and must be discussed. However, they are investments and decisions that flow out of the strategy work. Don’t forget the heavy lifting that comes first.

4. Expecting the S.W.O.T. analysis to generate the strategy.

S.W.O.T. is a tool. It’s one of many. It provides a picture of the organization and market situations, as do the many other tools and frameworks available for use. Just don’t expect it to generate the answers. Plus, it’s an incomplete view of the firm’s situation vis-a-vis the external environment and market forces. You have better options. More on this in my next article: Creating a Dynamic Strategy Process In Your Organization.

5. Failing to launch.

You can do a good job on the process and still fail. Bringing the strategy work to life in the form of decisions, investments, and bets and then building the system is the point. I’ve observed teams do a solid job on the hard part and then return to their day jobs, failing to bring the strategy work to life.

6. Assuming the annual offsite is the event required to create the strategy.

Ugh. It’s ongoing, continuous work and refinement. Offsites often serve as a proxy for the one time per year when people are encouraged to “think strategically.” You won’t find the answers you need in just one sitting and setting. (See my article: 21 Do’s and Dont’s to Optimize the Strategy Offsite.)

Forcing alignment plays out in several ways. The CEO dictates the strategy and looks for compliance. Or, the group grows exhausted with the endless circular discussions and arguments. Plus, political posturing is often a factor in these settings. In frustration, the groups force alignment on something lesser than a solid strategy. (Note: seriously, you need an excellent facilitator to avoid this and all the disorders described above.)

7. Expecting strategy work to yield a never-before-heard-of innovation or approach.

I lived this with a CEO who was convinced that anything less than an iPhone/Steve Jobs-type moment was a failure of strategy. That’s too much pressure to place on the strategy process. Game-changing innovations never take place by committee. They are outcomes of wild ideas and experiments–failed and successful. A good strategy process helps uncover the market/industry/customer forces that might support a game-changing idea. Just don’t hold your strategy work accountable to innovation on paper and by committee.

The Bottom Line for Now

Ultimately, I want you to build a strategy layer in your organization that encourages individuals at all levels to engage in ideation, analysis, and learning. A healthy organization is one that can align, execute, and renew rapidly. Yet, realizing this healthy organization demands discipline to decide what to do and what not to do. That’s the needed outcome from your strategy, plus the bets on or off and the mechanisms to bring them to life. If you’re at the core of your organization’s strategy work, take the above as a cautionary tale. Forewarned is forearmed.

—

Next up: Creating a Dynamic Strategy Process in Your Organization

Art Petty serves as a strategy advisor and facilitator for organizations in technology, manufacturing, and services. Drop Art a note to discuss options to serve.