Using Vision and Adaptability to Navigate the Next Decade

??Strategic Agility: Navigating the Decade Ahead with Vision and Adaptability

In the dynamic landscape of business, the ability to craft and execute a 10-year plan requires not just strategic foresight, but also the agility to adapt to unforeseen changes.

Quite often, you can feel like Jon Snow when it comes to 10-year plans – you know nothing…

Join me as I share my approach to developing and executing long-term plans for global commercial activities, ensuring sustained growth in the face of evolving market dynamics.

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?The Power of a 10-Year Plan

A 10-year plan isn't a crystal ball, but rather a roadmap that guides your organization through a decade of possibilities. It's about steering with purpose while being open to recalibrating your course when necessary.

And why should you have such a long horizon view? Because many businesses, including your competitors, are unlikely to have thought that far ahead. A 10-year business plan can help you stay a step ahead in the marketplace.

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?? Developing the Blueprint

1. Market Analysis and Scenario Planning: Crafting a 10-year plan starts with a deep dive into market trends and projections. A fantastic resource is the global trade explorer from McKinsey, which details evolution of global trade flows and the interdependencies and networks created by them. This provides insights into how markets have developed and what trends are in place today : ?https://www.mckinsey.com/mgi/our-research/global-trade-explorer?sector=0ag . This can be brought down to a more micro level in business. In a role supporting global commercial activities, I led a team in analysing different market scenarios for our biologics portfolio. By understanding potential shifts based on prior trends and flows, we were better prepared to adapt our strategies as needed. Scenario planning, as detailed in our previous article, is crucial in the era of perma-crisis where we should believe that the unexpected will materialise - https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/creating-resilient-supply-chain-simon-hinds/
2. Cross-Functional Collaboration: Developing a robust 10-year plan involves input from multiple functions. And getting those functions around the table is critical to success. Bringing everyone’s skills together should be done in a planned and considered way. Atlassian lay out simple steps to adhere to in building that cross functional team https://www.atlassian.com/work-management/project-collaboration/cross-functional-teams . I recall a project where we brought together experts from R&D, marketing, and finance to collaboratively shape the plan. This holistic approach ensured that our strategies aligned across the organization.

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??Executing with Adaptability in Mind

Executing a 10-year plan requires more than just sticking to the script; it means embracing change with poise.

1. ??Regular Reviews and Course Correction: Market dynamics don't follow a linear path. Regularly reviewing the plan's performance and comparing it against real-world outcomes is essential. This Forbes article shows the power of midyear / midplan strategic adjustments to ensure you are never stagnant, and to remain purpose-driven in your strategy https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesagencycouncil/2023/06/09/the-power-of-midyear-strategic-adjustments-to-your-business-strategy/?sh=58d9cafb252d . I led a project where our initial assumptions about a product's market uptake were challenged. By pivoting our approach mid-term, we were able to capture new opportunities, staying true to our vision for the brand, and adjusting at the right time
2. ??Scenario-Based Strategy Tweaks: While your plan provides direction, being prepared to adapt is crucial. A Harvard Business Review article from 2011called adaptability the new competitive advantage and that rings true 12 years later – and the abilities necessary listed in the thought piece are as relevant today https://hbr.org/2011/07/adaptability-the-new-competitive-advantage . In the wake of a global economic downturn, we revisited our long-term plan to ensure it remained resilient by applying the ability to read and act on signals. We adjusted investment priorities, emphasizing cost-efficiency without compromising on innovation.
3. ????Learning from the Journey: A 10-year plan isn't just a destination; it's a learning journey. Throughout the execution, gathering insights from successes and challenges can help refine your strategies. An ANZOG article written during 2020 showed how learning from others is a key skill in a crisis, and I would proffer is also a key skill for the long term ?https://anzsog.edu.au/research-insights-and-resources/research/how-to-learn-from-others/ . Understand your local context for your strategy, modify solutions for yourself, get and compare a wide range of benchmarks, learn from successes and failures, and have robust decision making processes all contribute to learning from the journey. When a new market entrant disrupted our market landscape, we examined the factors contributing to their rapid growth and integrated those lessons into our own approach.

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Conclusion

Crafting and executing a 10-year plan requires a blend of vision and adaptability.

While the plan serves as a guiding star, being willing to recalibrate based on emerging trends and unexpected disruptions is what ensures its success.

By remaining agile and fostering a culture of continuous learning, organizations can not only weather the changing tides but also thrive in the decade ahead. Having four core abilities in your leadership group makes the difference :

• Ability to Read and Act on Signals
• Ability to Experiment
• Ability to Manage Complex Systems
• Ability to Mobilize

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Developing and sustaining these will help teams to still be like Jon Snow – you know nothing…. But now, you have the abilities to respond and adapt when you know something….

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Feel free to connect with me to share your thoughts on strategic agility or to discuss your experiences in developing and executing long-term plans for sustained growth.

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#StrategicAgility #LongTermPlanning #Adaptability #MarketInsights

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