Strategy is at the heart of the business…but ‘much can slip twixt cup and lip’…it’s all about implementation.
Typically strategy conception starts at Board or Executive Committee level, but the essence of a well executed strategy lies in the process of cascading it into every level of the organisation. It is essential that all stakeholders have an opportunity to ‘think creatively’ and freely about the future direction of the business and to be enrolled through dialogue and meaningful conversation about the ‘why’ ‘what ‘when’ and ‘how’ of the strategic vision. This is what unleashes creativity, innovation and excitement about the future and, ultimately, it builds accountability and buy in to the plan.
An organisation’s success is not based solely on the quality of the strategic plan; more importantly its success or failure rides on how well and efficiently those plans are executed. This too involves a process of engagement, consulting, project and transition management.
I have over 20 years of experience in the field of strategy facilitation and have been licensed to use a tool box of different approaches and processes:
- Decision Process International (DPI); an internationally accredited methodology used by a number of large, listed organisations
- Scenario planning (‘Mind of a Fox’) developed by well-known corporate strategists Clem Sunter and Chantal Illbury
- Six Thinking Hats developed by Edward de Bono
- Participlan – a visual facilitation technique to harness the collective wisdom of the group
- Global cafe conversations
- Crucial conversations
- Thinking Environment by Nancy Kline
My Approach:
- To develop an understanding of the macro landscape that impacts the organisation and the industry within which it operates; the socio, political, economic and competitor influences and risks
- To understand the micro dynamics at play within the business
- To obtain a thorough brief from the leadership team and a deep understanding of what would be a desired outcome of the session
- To design a process to achieve this
- To facilitate the strategic conversation with the leadership team
- To document and summarise the output and decisions from the session
- To share that output with others and to engage them for their ‘fresh and new’ thinking and perspective
- To develop the implementation plan
- To support the implementation process with ongoing engagement sessions