A New Look at Strategy Formulation
Linda Henman
The Decision Catalyst ?, St. Louis's transformative executive coach, speaker, and consultant, advises executives and boards on leadership development, M & A, strategy, change, and growth.
In most hospitals, you’ll find more people who understand how to run fast than there are people who can decide which race they should enter…more people with well-honed skills for producing results in the short run than visionary strategists. Certainly, you need both to succeed, but most organizations are replete with those who can plug ahead and lacking on those who can plan ahead; the competition, however, is more likely to outmaneuver you strategically than to outperform you tactically. Your tactical “to-do list” (plugging away) will keep you in the game today, but only a clear strategy can ensure your success tomorrow.
Pre-pandemic strategies won’t work anymore. None. Not for healthcare organizations large or small, for-profit or non-profit. We now face a new reality—one that must involve strategic decisions and pragmatic views of the future. That means executives can now reduce strategy formulation to a few days, and the view of the future can only be 12–18 months. This is the antithesis of Peter Drucker’s highly effective approach to strategy that he introduced at GM three quarters of a century ago. Black Swan events keep multiplying at a faster-than-ever pace.
My mentor, Alan Weiss, has developed an original and completely new post-pandemic approach to strategy. Weiss based Sentient Strategy on two modern dimensions: awareness of the environment in which the organization exists and has influence, and consciousness of the impact of actions being considered for the next year or two. We must drop the hubris that has led us to believe we can see years ahead and anticipate what’s coming.
It’s time to use volatility and disruption as offensive weapons in the marketplace instead of trying to protect ourselves from them. There’s a clear reason why Sears didn’t morph into Amazon and why Hertz surrendered its number one spot to Enterprise—they lost awareness of the environment and the impact of their decisions for the next two years.
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As leaders, you must understand the nature of strategy, embrace the changes it brings, set priorities for achieving what your competition can’t match, and choose the right people to drive your vision. Only then will you outwit your rivals and claim your unique position.
For more information about how Sentient Strategy can help your organization, please contact me at [email protected]
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