The power of strategy when everything’s going to sh*t

Crisis is almost the norm now for Virgin Media O2, and what Mike Brooks discusses in this interview is the power of strategy when everything’s going to sh*t. For the last few decades there’s been almost continuous crisis in the UK marketplace as Mike touches on; the great recession in the 70s, the 2008 recession, Brexit…the dreaded COVID-19 and now the looming recession. “Right now, consumer confidence is in the toilet” Mike states. Although crisis is certainly normal and is what Mike comes up against daily, the difference between a business succeeding or failing is in a good and effective strategy. Mike continues to say, “if you have a good strategy, you are able to adapt how you execute that strategy through any process”. 

Planning for a good strategy 

It’s all about defining the game, Mike recounts. Knowing where the brand wants to be and doing a “ruthlessly honest diagnosis” will put the business in the best stead. Mike is frank on this, having a clear direction is key. Furthermore, “making difficult choices about what to do and what not to do” can often be overlooked, Mike says. “Strategy can act as a catalyst” to get rid of processes or things that aren’t helping any longer he continues. Again, it comes down to honesty which at times can be hard to tackle in the business. Furthermore, strategy can help in “tilting the odds in your favour” he states, as a strategy officer it makes no sense to fluff around with fancy words, but what does help is putting strong statements in place that have metrics attributed to them. 

Spotting a bad strategy 

“Bad strategy isn’t a strategy that fails” Mike expresses, even good strategies can fail due to factors out of the business’s control. Mike then goes on to reference the book Good Strategy Bad Strategy: The Difference and Why it Matters by Richard Rumelt, in noticing the factors of a bad strategy. First off, the people pleaser type strategy, this refers to a strategy that is worried about upsetting someone, whether this be stakeholders, investors or even the customer. In this instance the strategy ends up direction-less, avoiding taking a problem head on. Second type is the goal getter, this is “passed off as a strategy but really it’s a KPI” and so lacks the foundations of how to achieve those KPIs. Lastly, the waffler, a superficial statement, that again has no direction and has been fluffed up to sound attractive. “Strategy doesn’t have to be sexy” Mike puts it blatantly, “taking a problem head on is the cornerstone of any good strategy”. 

Using data to analyse strategy 

Being “obsessed with metrics” has become increasingly popular in recent times, and especially for Virgin Media O2 due to their use of digital platforms. Mike describes that “each action should be measurable to some degree”, enabling tracking helps to keep the business on the right trajectory. Mike stresses that it all comes down to, “are the decisions made resulting in growth?”, that is the bottom line and should depict all thought process within strategy planning. Although it is important to be able to attribute metrics to the strategy, and it’s what Mike relies on heavily, it doesn’t mean that businesses shouldn’t add unmeasurable parts. For example, customer experience or NPS score can often be overlooked because it doesn’t directly relate to bottom-line metrics. Mike states strategist’s need to accept there are “less tangible metrics” to help get to where they need to be as well. 

Conclusion 

To round off, there will always be factors out with the business’s control, external factors that may tamper with the strategy and that’s ok Mike presses. “Strategy needs to be collaborative” and professionals in this field must “be unapologetic” about how they get there. What’s key in Mike’s eyes is knowing where the business wants to be and being ruthless in the motions to get there. “Framing the strategic process is helping to get the business a mandate it needs, in order to do the things, it wants to do” Mike declares.