Balancing Strategy and Execution: The Telescope and Microscope Approach for General Managers

As the world of business moves at an ever-faster pace, a General Manager (GM) will regularly find themselves focused on the most pressing, short-term issues. In my 6-year stint as a global Medical Technology GM, I have dealt with the effects of hurricanes, COVID-19 and many rounds of global supply chain disruption. I have also had to reset the vision for businesses and define long-term strategies that aligned with evolving corporate requirements.

This balancing act between strategy and execution can be thought of as using both a telescope and a microscope. ?The discipline to make time to look through both lenses at regular intervals has been critical in my various leadership roles, but none more so than as a GM. This analogy is not a new one. References to it have been made by Jim Flaherty, former Finance Minister of Canada in 2009, Dominic Barton, Global Managing Director of McKinsey & Company in 2015 (1), and in LinkedIn articles by other authors, the earliest I could find going back to 2014 (2). ?In this article, we’ll explore how GMs must effectively leverage both perspectives to drive business and organizational success.

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The Telescope: Setting the Vision

The telescope represents strategic vision. It provides a panoramic view of the business landscape, helping GMs to identify long-term objectives and goals, emerging market trends, and potential challenges. Just as an astronomer uses a telescope to spot celestial bodies light-years away, GMs must look beyond the immediate horizon to chart a course for their business and organization.

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Key Considerations for Strategic Vision:

1. Corporation: Ensure understanding of company objectives and goals and the role your business plays in the broader portfolio.
2. Orientation: Stay attuned to market trends and customer/consumer behaviors. Regularly engage with regional and functional experts to understand and analyze data and insights that indicate potential for change.
3. Competition: Be informed by competitive activity but not dictated by it. Run your own race, set your own finish line.
4. Innovation: Identify and then invest preferentially in the disruptive ideas. Encourage innovation across all functions that either sharpens or accelerates the vision
5. Organization: Ensure you are building the necessary capabilities for what and where your business will need to be in 2-3 years’ time. ?

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The Microscope: Focusing on Execution

While the telescope offers a sweeping view, the microscope zooms in on the intricate details that make up the day-to-day operations. Execution is where strategies come to life. GMs must ensure that their teams have the clarity, resources and tools needed to turn visions into reality.

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Key Considerations for Effective Execution:

1. Communication: Define, align and then clearly and consistently communicate your business objective and goals in a simple way that every function and region can understand and execute against.
2. Prioritization: Leverage your cross-functional leadership team to collaboratively assess and rigorously prioritize programs that will have greatest likelihood of delivering against your strategies.
3. Allocation: Ensure that the appropriate human and financial resources are allocated to the highest priority programs. Encourage quick decisions on personnel who don’t have the right skillset.
4. Culture: Actively co-create the desired culture in every facet of your work. Identify opportunities to bring it to life in a meaningful way for all levels of the organization.
5. Metrics: Establish clear performance indicators with owners to measure progress. Regularly review these metrics to ensure that the team stays on track.

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The Balancing Act

The challenge for GMs lies in harmonizing these two perspectives. Focusing solely on the telescope can lead to a disconnect from daily operations, resulting in a lack of alignment between vision and execution. Conversely, getting lost in the microscope can cause leaders to lose sight of the longer-term objective and goals. A loss of either perspective can lead to dysfunctionality and disengagement in the broader organization.

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Finding Balance:

1. Regular Check-Ins: Schedule frequent meetings to discuss both strategic objectives and operational challenges. This encourages open dialogue, ensures regular calibration amongst cross-functional and pan-regional stakeholders and can highlight areas of misalignment.
2. Put Execution into Strategic Context: Use the ‘Why’ as an introduction to any presentation on the ‘What/When/How’ of program execution.? This has the benefit not only of ensuring executional alignment to the vision but also forces a regular sense-check of that long-term strategic direction.
3. Strategy as a Function: If possible, set up Strategy as a stand-alone function within your leadership team. Most of the chairs around the table are filled with leaders focused on execution. I have found that having a voice that speaks up for the long-term vision, objective and goals in every forum can be invaluable for balance.

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Conclusion

In the role of a GM, the ability to constantly shift between the telescope and the microscope is essential. By balancing strategic vision with meticulous execution, GMs can navigate their organizations through complexity and change. Embrace this dual perspective, and you’ll not only drive success but also inspire your team to reach new heights.

As you look through your own telescope and microscope, remember: the real power lies in the synergy of both.

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References

(1)??? ?‘21st Century Leadership will Demand Character and a Long-Term View’. ?2015 lecture at the Sa?d Business School, Dominic Barton, Global Managing Director of McKinsey & Company. In his lecture, Mr Barton credits the telescope/microscope analogy to Jim Flaherty, former Finance minister of Canada (2006-2014) in a remark made during the 2007-2009 recession.

(2)??? ‘From Telescopes to Microscopes, Great Leaders need it all’. Dan Ryan, LinkedIn article, Sept 2014.