Agile Strategy

spent an evening with a friend who believes that business strategy as an exercise and as a direction setting device is dead -- cold and gone in this ever changing world.

i can understand this opinion since i have come to be very uncomfortable with the words "strategy" and "strategic" -- they are much overused and often combined with shallow thinking to produce a binder for the book shelf.

yet, as much as i dislike the words themselves, strategic thinking about the direction of the business is still critical to business survival; the necessary thinking just occurs in a different way.

today i practice what i call "agile strategy", still composed of critical thinking about the business, its products/services, and environment; but not conducted as a rote yearly business group grope.

the agile strategy process is living, year round.  it is not a monolithic study addressing the whole business at once and it only tries to see a short distance into the future.

each business unit maintains and updates their component of the strategy (within the corporate framework);  maintains it as a living document with updates in whatever frequency is needed

the business unit components fit into a company-wide strategy framework (not a rigid strategy); based upon core competencies, core processes and capabilities, and the overall environment in which the company operates

both at the company and business unit levels inflection points (potential changes in the market, customer preferences, and competition) are identified indicating the need for changes in the framework or business unit modules. these inflection points are under constant monitoring by the company and business unit.  when one is encountered (activated by the market or competition), previously discussed changes in the corporate framework and business unit strategy modules are exercised.

business strategy today is not a process, but a living, breathing force field of insight and agreement within the company; much like the much discussed Higgs field of particle physics.  again like the Higgs field, the corporate strategic framework should pervasively and positively impact the market presence of every business unit within the company.

Capitalism

i did not write this article nor am i a McKinsey alumnus, since my career was with Booz Allen Hamilton Inc., but it is simple the best thinking on capitalism that i have seen in a long time.

suggest that you might want to read it.

http://www.mckinsey.com/insights/corporate_social_responsibility/redefining_capitalism?cid=other-eml-nsl-mip-mck-oth-1411

you will probably have to copy it and paste it into your browser.

Bumps In the Road

so, the economy is gaining strength, your business is growing, and you are thinking about building a business strategy to cope with future growth.  good idea, but in itself it is incomplete.

we live in a business world of lumps and bumps, ups and downs, booms and busts.  as the chart below indicates, the next recession and associated business/consumer panic is just around the corner.

it is only a matter of time, and not much time at that, until the next downturn impacts your business.

that is exactly why business strategy today must be built upon "what ifs", with a core direction and at least two to three potential tweaks or modifications to that direction (inflection points) based upon economic and competitive trip wires.

the inflexible business with a plan and a tunnel vision looking forward is dead meat in today's marketplace.  it's like flying an airplane; you must always be looking up, down, left and right and you need to know what your next move is when you see opponents in any of those views.

business strategy today is a living process, tied to inflection points in the environment around us.

The Stimulus for Innovation Is Out There

Top Trends in the Cyber Domain

Exponential growth in mobile devices -- drives exponential security risks -- 7 of every 10 professionals are breaking company I/T policies often with handhelds

C-Suite targeting -- hackers already have a complete profile of your executive suite

Your company is already infected -- learn to deal with it

Global systemic risk now includes cyber risk -- a security breach in a single company can impact a whole value space

Insider threats are real and often go unanticipated

More companies are using cloud computing, opening to blind side security threats -- check out your cloud carefully

Source: Booz Allen Hamilton Inc.

Imperatives for Today's Businesses

• Rethink the consumer value proposition
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• Rethink your value space -- look hard at those you think of as non-competitors
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• Build or migrate to a flexible, continuously learning business model
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• Modularize the business value chain and social network -- think of Lego blocks
• 
  
• Build an innovation engine; a living, human one around professional staff -- reward the failures that serve to teach us
• 
  
• Define, promote and communicate corporate values -- a moderately stable port in a continuous market storm
• 
  
• Think of vision, roles, strategies, products, and services as flowing rivers, continuously changing

Contradiction

i worked with many smart and well educated professionals over my "employed" career and still do in my "post-employed" career.  during that time i have learned something, at least one thing, from every person with whom i have worked.

during  that same period i also learned to see or pick out those that will excel to the top of their career ladders.  these are the people who i sought out (and still do today) to work with.  these are the "exciters", those who are changing our businesses and the world around us.

so how do i see these winners?

the answer is two part;

1. "egolessness" -- we all have egos in some way, but this is my term for a person whose ego is in check enough to allow them to see and hear what others fail to see and hear in the world around them -- these are the observers, the seekers of wisdom
2. contradiction processing -- these are the people who can hold and process contradictory stories, opinions, or facts simultaneously in their mind, be open to both, and move in the direction of the greatest logic and benefit.  few can do this well, but those that are open to it and learn this skill are rocket propelled in their careers and accomplishments

be a winner