What are your best practices for learning from successes and failures in strategic management?

One of the things I’ve found invaluable during my career is the experience we gain through the journey we take. Strategy and strategic thinking allows adaptability to the market making us more confident in the choices we make. A SWOT analysis is great tool to review and plan your next move. Simplifying the processes we adopt to making these decisions is critical to being more successful. Failure only occurs when the same process, choice, decision is made and you find yourself in the same place you started. All the training, courses and experience brings the things we learn together to build a better future.

Identifying the causes that lead to the outcome is key and often, specially when the outcome is successful, this step is overlooked. It is important to understand which of the factors both internal and external lead to the outcome and document them so you can monitor how in time those factors change and how you must adapt and tailor your strategy to maintain a successful outcome even if the factors change or avoid a unsuccessful outcome. And don't get cooky. You do this once, twice - keep being successful and you may get too comfortable thinking that you will always be successful and you can skip the important steps of monitoring and analysing. You don't. The importance of this step never fades away and should be religiously performed.

In my strategic management journey, root cause analysis has been pivotal. Once, while overseeing a digital marketing campaign, we faced unexpected outcomes. Using the SWOT framework, we pinpointed external competitive pressures and internal resource constraints as primary causes. This deep dive not only clarified the situation but also informed our future strategic decisions.

Doing a post mortem analysis at the end of every project is very crucial, as project and strategic managers will know what worked well and what did not. After, the analysis the best way-forward solution(s) will be developed and what went wrong and didn't produce good results will be avoided. We learn and improve from mistakes

Learning from both successes and failures is crucial in strategic management to refine your approach and make informed decisions. Analyzing the factors, documenting the processes, continuous learning & improvement, conducting root cause analysis, adjusting strategies, sharing successes and failures, collecting and actioning upon the feedback, etc. are a few valuable insights to consider.

Quantifying results is crucial. In a digital business project, we set clear KPIs aligned with our objectives. Using the balanced scorecard, we tracked our performance across various dimensions. This rigorous measurement revealed gaps in our customer engagement strategy, prompting a recalibration of our approach.

Always have the power to analyze your strategies from a third person point of view, as you won't be biased towards your decisions and will have the ability to think from a neutral perspective. Define the objectives beforehand, how well this strategy would perform in comparison with the expected performance. Collect and prepare the metrics and statistics through your experience and learnings from previous projects. This will provide you with the necessary picture of where do you stand in the process on whether you need to proceed, or you need to take a step back and re strategize the entire framework.

Setting KPI ahead of time, with expected results, and then gaining support and agreement on those KPI from stakeholders is absolutely critical. By ensuring everyone is on the same page from the beginning on the goals of the project, you can ensure that steps to adjust your strategy aren't derailed by disagreements on performance measurement later on. Engage those involved early and often. Communicate openly, set KPIs, and continually measure against them.

Every strategic endeavor offers lessons. Post a strategic marketing initiative, we conducted an after-action review. This introspection revealed that while our strategy was sound, execution lagged in certain areas. These insights became invaluable in refining our future strategies.

Implementation is complicated with many moving parts. When debriefing on strategic lessons, multiple perspectives provide better learning opportunities. By committing time to contemplate the implementation experience as a group and discuss all perspectives of the good, bad, and ugly outcomes, leaders gain a broader perspective for the future.

Never underestimate the power of learning lessons from your experiences. Make mistakes in the process, but never repeat the same mistakes ever and keep learning from mistakes done by your fellow mates. Your time is limited and it's not worth it to repeat the mistakes. Collect and prepare the metrics and statistics through your experience and learnings from previous projects. This will provide you with the necessary picture of where do you stand in the process on whether you need to proceed, or you need to take a step back and re strategize the entire framework.

In strategic management, every outcome is a learning opportunity. Business schools teach us to apply frameworks like the Balanced Scorecard, but real-world application is where theory meets practice. For example, a project I led exceeded KPIs but the after-action review revealed deeper insights. The success wasn’t just in the numbers; it was in team synergy and agile response to unforeseen challenges. Key takeaway? Measure beyond metrics—evaluate the narrative behind them. Understand the ‘why’ and ‘how’ to replicate success and prevent future failures. This holistic approach is not just about learning; it’s about creating a culture of continuous growth.

Feedback loops have been integral in my consulting roles. After a major strategic overhaul for a client, we actively sought feedback from all stakeholders. This not only fostered transparency but also enriched our strategy with diverse perspectives, ensuring a more holistic approach in subsequent phases.

Collaboration, discussion is important. As a business develops and navigates challenges it builds its expertise and builds out its capabilities. Ensuring that feedback loops are being utilized ensure these experiences are captured and taken advantage of. In addition stakeholders are sources of resources. Vendors may have already solved similar challenges. Feedback and conversations regarding challenges are critical to finding how different stakeholders can assist you and your clients.

Adaptability is key. In one of my operations management roles, we employed the PDCA cycle post a strategy rollout. Continuous iterations based on real-time feedback ensured our strategy remained agile, responsive, and aligned with the ever-evolving market dynamics.

Accepting the good and bad things any strategy will bring without finger pointing is essential. This must also be reflected in the adjusted kpi and target structure. Strategy must be time bound, but given the complex and continuously changing world, flexibility in metrics and frequent reviews are a way to truly understand the impact of the good and bad things. This includes financial, tax, operational and for sure people elements.

Strategic learning from both triumphs and setbacks is essential for businesses aiming to thrive amidst market flux. The PDCA (Plan-Do-Check-Act) offers a robust framework for this reflective practice. As example a tech startup that rolled out a new app feature based on market research. The Plan phase involved setting clear objectives for user engagement. Do executed the rollout. Check monitored real-time data, revealing the feature’s popularity in unexpected demographics. Act involved tweaking marketing strategies to capitalize on this new user base, showing PDCA’s dynamic response to real-world data, crucial for maintaining competitive. The PDCA ensures strategies are not static but living processes that evolve with the business landscape.

Recognizing achievements is vital for morale. After a successful digital transformation project, we instituted a recognition program. Celebrating milestones and acknowledging team efforts not only boosted morale but also instilled a culture of excellence, driving the team to set and achieve loftier goals.

Recognizing your teammates is key but remember not to wait until your project is over, the end of the quarter or their year-end reviews. Consistent recognition can go a long way, especially for new teams, which are still building relationships and, in some cases, adapting to leadership style.

Reflecting on my experiences, I believe that while strategies provide direction, it's the people who bring them to life. In one memorable project, despite a sound strategy, team alignment was the missing piece. Once addressed, we witnessed a remarkable turnaround. It's a testament to the fact that strategy and culture must go hand in hand for true success.

Strategy management is all about identifying and leveraging moments that matter. These can be big moments such as deciding on a strategy and small (having the pro-active support from individual stakeholders.

A reflection towards the Decisional Process: a lesson learned and willingness to change is of no value if the decisional process remains the same.