Five ways you need to flip your strategic planning process if you want to grow your business

We all care about strategy because we want the future to be different to the past. 

But over the years I’ve noticed that too often we approach the strategic planning process from the wrong direction. We put too much emphasis on analysis, on finding the one right answer, when we should be creating options, viable alternatives to delivering value for all our stakeholders.

Here are five ways you need to flip your strategic planning process if you are to win the hearts of your customers in today’s rapidly changing world.

1. Strategy is the art of creation not optimisation

When I started in strategy consulting 30 years ago analysis was the name of the game. Where did a business make money, how much did competitors make, where could costs be cut? And many strategic planning processes still put a heavy weight on analysis – and process. But the reality is that analysis rarely unlocks transformational growth. It can optimise but never transform.

Powerful futures are created by design not analysis; they are about possibility, not constraint; they are about evolution not optimisation. Strategy is about the creation of viable alternatives, options, not finding the one ‘right answer’.

Great strategy is the art of bringing possibilities to life, often against great odds. 

It starts with the desire to challenge the status quo, to make a difference, to overcome the mediocre which defines so much of strategy and business today.

And it should end with the delivery of that promise; that the world is a better place; that the standard of living and quality of life has been improved for all stakeholders.

Strategies that deliver these outcomes tend to share four characteristics: they are original, persuasive, elegant and inspiring.

Original in the sense that they are unique, different, remarkable. Like the Opera House in my home town of Sydney they are spawned from original thinking, not a refinement of what has gone before.

Persuasive in the sense that their creator had to convince other stakeholders that their vision, their strategy, their story for the future was the right choice, the wise choice. If strategy is about choosing between different possibilities, different stories for what the future could be, great strategists need to not only be great designers, but also great persuaders.

Elegant in that the solution being proposed is complex enough to perform its function well, but no more complex than it needs to be. It’s an elegant solution; a simple solution.

Inspiring in that the solution engages us not just at a functional level but at an emotional one too. When crossing Sydney harbour I can choose the Bridge or the Tunnel. Both get me to the other side; only one, the Bridge, lifts my spirits, excites and enthrals; only one has become an icon.

Is your strategy creating a vision for the future or just polishing up the past? 

2. Great strategy requires brilliance not just mastery

To deliver on our strategic vision – to create that which is original, persuasive, elegant and inspiring – we need our skills to shine. Our strategy doesn’t just need to work, it needs to captivate. To bridge the Firth of Forth, engineers needed to push the boundaries of steel making, caisson and cantilever design. To build the iphone, Apple needed to transform their skills in user interface design, screen making and miniaturisation. 

Great strategies require their designers not just to be skilled at what they do but to push beyond mastery to brilliance. But how does one make that leap? From mastery to brilliance, from competence to innovation? 

By experimenting. By building prototypes, models; by conducting trials, gaining feedback, learning and iterating. By looking for inspiration outside our normal environment – in different markets, different industries, different cultures. Edison did not invent the lightbulb at the first attempt. He had the grit and determination to try, fail, learn and try again 10,000 times until a solution was found.

Have your skills plateaued or are you constantly pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in your industry?

3. Seek clarity on the outcome you want to deliver, not on the problem you want to solve

Most of us have been taught a simple approach to solving problems. Define the problem, identify various solutions, analyse each and choose one. 

Great strategists, on the other hand take a different approach. They seek clarity on the outcomes they want to achieve and work back from there.

Karl Albrecht did not found ALDI by chance. He designed it specifically to deliver great value groceries that did not compromise on quality.

Are you fixated on problems, or are you fixated on solutions?

4. Look for possibilities, not for constraints

In business we tend to start strategic conversations with constraints – the constraints of budgets, of ease of implementation, of earnings targets. As a result we tend to get results that are just tweaks of the status quo.

Great strategy inevitably starts with the question ‘What if anything is possible?’ After all, if strategy is a creation, a product of our imagination, and our assumptions are only bound by what we can imagine, then our first task is to remove the assumptions that arise from a belief in constraints.

In a notoriously unprofitable industry, Herb Keller designed Southwest Airlines to deliver low airfares, great service and high profits, assumptions that incumbents had not chosen to challenge.

Are you reaching for the stars or bowing to the boardroom?

5. Debate assumptions not solutions

Great strategy cannot be designed in isolation. It requires input and perspective from stakeholders both inside and outside your business, rapid iteration, real-time feedback and a focus on the detail. But simply putting a variety of people in the room is not enough. 

To produce great strategy we must change the way we talk to one another. Most of us in business situations talk as if we are in a debate, advocating a position. But with a diverse group, debate is more likely to lead to a stalemate than to a breakthrough. 

Breakthroughs come from asking new questions, not debating existing solutions. They come from re-examining the assumptions we have taken as a given.

Anita Roddick challenged the assumption, the sacred cow that cosmetics had to be sold in expensive bottles; Apple challenged the assumption that computers had to be functional, not aesthetic; Timpson’s challenged the assumption that managers have to tell staff what to do.

What sacred cow are you going to slaughter today?

It’s time to turn strategy on its head. 

Market Maverick are Growth Strategy Specialists based in Sydney. To find out more visit our website at www.marketmaverick.com.au. We'd love to hear your comments on the site - email [email protected]