Navigating the Uncharted with Strategic Agility

This interview series is designed to inspire game-changing strategic leadership - an elite level of performance estimated to be achieved by about 5% of leaders today. Leaders like Indra Nooyi, Herb Kelleher and Howard Schultz.

It features insights and experiences from innovators, creators, leaders, authors and strategic leadership experts - each working at a current edge of discomfort to amplify their strategic impact and transform the future of leadership. Each guest is invited to take my Strategic Impact Quiz, which identifies where they are on their journey to game-changing strategic leadership - are they a THINKER, PLANNER, CREATOR? Or have they achieved the elite performance level of a TRANSFORMER?

I hope their stories inspire you, each day, to be just 2% more of that trailblazer you are called to be.

This month, I caught up with CREATOR Jane Li, who developed and successfully brought to market the first NGS-based companion diagnostic (CDx) tests during her leadership at 赛默飞世尔科技 . The next-generation sequencing (NGS) technology had massive potential impact for patients, yet had no proven success path to follow into the clinic. In an unpredictable industry that is full of regulation changes and failed technology, Jane Li led her team through uncertainty to global impact.

Q. Jane, you've been at the forefront of transformative change in genomic sequencing-based companion diagnostics for over a decade. What has it taken to lead and sustain this transformation within your industry and company?

A: For decades, companion diagnostics (CDx) industry has been based on single gene tests with long-established technologies, such as IHC and PCR.? In the past few years, genomic sequencing technology evolution has allowed interrogation of thousands of gene targets at the same time from one single sample.? Our vision was for NGS to be a single test for multiple biomarkers and multiple drugs in multiple cancer indications - ultimately accelerating drug clinical trials and approvals, and improving patient access to treatment.??

But with any new vision, the beginning is always challenging.?

The established ecosystem is entrenched in the old way, so change is uncomfortable and the initial reaction is always resistance or skepticism by human nature.? There was no checklist or established path to follow. ?

We built a team with an innovative mindset, took a lot of creativity, being strategic and intentional in a new approach, constantly testing the assumptions and adjusting the approach along the way till it worked.?

Our early success provided validation of the vision and a blueprint for new entrants into the industry – and more competition jumped into the market.? We then became very strategic where to focus and how to create new differentiation to stay ahead of the game and continue to lead in the market.? Since 2017, we have expanded to over 20 pharma drugs and 19 countries globally.? Many NGS companies shared the same vision with us a decade ago, but only a few successfully delivered in execution and stayed in the game ten years later.??

Q. As someone who has a natural talent for strategic thinking, what advice would you give to leaders who are seeking to enhance this ability?

A: To stay strategic, the first step for me is always seeing the big picture and understanding major trends that shape the future five to ten years out.?

Increasingly, the intersection of different technologies makes the future far more complex to predict, and existing market/or technology can be disrupted at a much faster pace.? This is the case with our industry, where drug trials advance and fail, new technologies emerge and fade, new regulations and rules come and go.??

Staying abreast of the changing landscape is important to play the long game.

Every six months, I would try to un-learn half of what I know and re-learn what I don’t know.??

Like playing chess, I would look at the industry as a chess board, where all the pieces are moving, and what best move to take in an increasingly complex game.? A winning strategy always thinks three steps ahead and incorporates potential response from different players in the industry.

I also developed a mindset to avoid chasing new shiny gold prematurely and being too quick to abandon current strategy to follow others.? To me, that is absolutely the worst way to set strategy, but it happens often because the strategy “feels safer” with the evidence of “other companies are doing it”.? But one can’t lead by following the crowd.?

Setting a strategy for an innovative and transformative business can make you feel lonely because there is no evidence, no market data, no consulting companies to validate it.? One approach is to use other industries as a sanity check to the strategic hypothesis.? We analyzed other related industries as an important anchor to support our vision.? When we launched our new system in 2020, it was game changing in the NGS industry.????

Q. Do you have a favorite approach for developing strategy? What advice do you have for helping leaders ensure their long-range plan is strategic?

A: Understanding the industry landscape and major trends that shape the future five to ten years out is an important first step. Avoid only focusing on incremental changes,?but rather spend time thinking about disruptive changes and apply a “blue ocean” mindset.??

In long-range planning, a company can’t just look at the current business without considering market disruptions and paradigm shifts.? For example the large PCR and FISH technology companies failed to expand into NGS, even though the market was moving away from their technology.

Strategy is a choice. It’s a decision about where to play, how to win, and being very intentional in planning what to do to win.??

At the heart of the strategy is a compelling value proposition – it’s the reason a company believes it can win.??

As an example, for our company, we chose to play in oncology because we have the fastest turn-around time and lowest tissue input amount NGS solution that can generate results for more patients and put them on treatment most quickly.? Everything in our long-range plan is to support this strategy.

Q. You recently told me that you thrive in ambiguity and complexity, a critical skill in today’s business landscape. What helps you navigate uncertainty??

A: It's human nature to want to have control and for things to go according to our plan.? But in the NGS CDx world, there is a high degree of uncertainty that is not in our control.? As an example, drug schedule change, negative feedback from regulatory agencies, or unexpected issues with samples.??

Uncertainty has two sides to the coin – fear of failure and opportunity to create. The best way to conquer fear is not going around it but going through it.? A leader has an opportunity to set the right mindset for the team on how to face uncertainties.??

During a new CDx program kickoff, I would often remind the program team “things will go wrong, and when they do, we will figure it out, we always do”.??

The best way to conquer fear is not going around it but going through it.?

First time when things go wrong, it feels like a tornado, second time it feels like a thunderstorm, the third time it feels like a drizzle. The more the team welcomes uncertainties, the more the team can identify opportunities in chaos for? competitive differentiation.

Q. What is the hardest part of strategic leadership for you? What are the most important lessons you’ve learned about leading strategically?

A: The hardest part of being an innovative leader is that you will face more doubters than believers in the early days.? Nothing frustrates an innovator more than working with people who can’t see the vision, hearing “it’s not going to work”, or “we can’t do it”. Building a team with an innovative mindset, willing to try and err is critical on any transformative journey.

Q. Leading cutting-edge innovation requires a unique blend of vision and pragmatism. How have you had to balance these aspects??

A: Turning a vision into reality requires both “book smart” and “street smart”.? Being strategic gives you an advantage, but being practical makes things happen.??

As I look back on my past eight years in NGS CDx, there were ideas that looked smart conceptually on paper but didn’t work in reality. ? Now when I review a new strategy, I always ask myself “is it looking good on paper, or will it work in the real world?”

Making good practical decisions requires a deep understanding of people, whether it’s the clients or the teams, how they are motivated and whether the strategy/plan is consistent with their motivation.??

Q. What advice would you have for a leader that has been told to be more strategic??

A: For most of us, days are packed with back-to-back meetings, a long list of to-dos. Often when we are buried in the busyness, we lose the ability to see far and think strategically for a long game.??

A strategic person would find simplicity from complexity and be able to crystalize strategic insight but not get stuck in the details. I sometimes tell the team “I can’t explain in simple words, because I haven’t thought it through”. I use that as a test for myself – a good strategy is often simple.??????

Q. A game-changing strategic leader must actively manage the balance between leading with conviction and connection. Which comes more naturally for you?? ?

A: Conviction comes naturally to me.? When a leader is on a transformative journey,? their work is not just a job, it’s their belief,? their passion, and their meaning.???

Transformation is hard, can’t happen without a strong conviction – it’s the fire that keeps the team going when things look dire and hopeless. In our NGS CDx journey, we had many moments like that, but we carried through against all odds because of our conviction.? These days, every time we face a serious challenge, I would remind myself: we have made it this far, we will make it through.??

Connection is an equally important skill for a leader - so they can be open to feedback, and build trust and support around him.? In my experience, when we go through a challenging time, it is incredibly bonding and trust building between the leader and the team during the process. Conviction and connection can take place at the same time with the right balance, quite powerful in building the culture.???

Thank you for participating in the Strategic Impact Quiz, Jane, and contributing to this series.?

Readers, have you been at the helm of some exciting emerging tech?? How have you led your organization through unpredictability?

Take the Strategic Impact Quiz to discover if you are a CREATOR, PLANNER, or a THINKER.? And let me know if there are any strategic leaders, at whatever stage of their journey, that you’d like to see in the Game Changers series.?

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