Neither strategy formulation or strategy implementation are difficult if you know what you're doing.

It’s rare that a strategy's business case will be sufficient to win the support needed through a document or presentation by itself. Many organisations are inherently political. This is often a cultural trait of the organisation often caused by fear, territorial issues and the threat of losing authority and status as a cultural characteristic as well as a result of certain types of strategies.

Don’t under-estimate the power and dysfunctional influence of this type of culture. Therefore, in order to minimise the impacts of this issue, it’s recommended that you:

• Work your audience: take the time and effort to meet with all important members of your various audiences, to talk through what is proposed, what is the likely impact on them, and what is expected of them before the strategy is implemented, during implementation and after implementation.
• Capture and record their questions, issues and their concerns. Ensure that their concerns are identified (anonymously if possible) in the business case, and discuss the manner you propose to satisfy those concerns. Ask the interviewees, for their suggested solutions. If you can 'live with' their solution to important issues and problems within the strategy, it will be harder for them to withhold approval or cooperation. The written record will protect you (and the strategy) from individuals who claim they "didn’t say that" at some future point.
• Ensure that you spend time explaining the benefits of the strategy to them and their area of responsibility. If they don’t know or aren't convinced of the benefits, then why would they support the strategy?
• Don’t leave the meeting without knowing what it will take to get their support for the strategy.

You may also encounter 'gate-keepers' through whom you need to navigate the strategy, and who don’t have a real direct interest in the strategy or who are not directly affected by it. You still need to meet with them and secure their approval too. This is usually done by explaining the benefits to them or their responsibility area from the successful implementation of the strategy.

As with most things - it depends.

You can get lousy consultants and great consultants. You can also get naïve or stupid clients, and informed and focussed clients.

Good clients can make a mediocre consultant look good while lousy clients can thwart even the best consultant.

The experienced consultant (strategy or not) will be able to:

1. 'Read' the client's seriousness and competence quickly - certainly before he/she commits or even scopes the project.
2. Read the client's culture.
3. Explore the client's change history and readiness.
4. Explore the client's experience and behaviour with consultants.
5. Establish whether what's needed in the consultant's experience sits within the client's expectation for the task they're asking the consultant to deliver.
6. Determine whether the robustness of the relationship between the 'objective' of the initiative and the work effort required to deliver it is clear and compelling (i.e. that the 'cause and effect' are indisputable.)

I have found that strategists that become too familiar with a client's environment tend to think like the client. If that were not so, then all the problems in industries in which strategists work would have been resolved - and that is certainly not the case.

I have also found that coming into a problem with 'new eyes' (and ears) allows lateral solutions to be introduced - and  real value delivered.

As with most things in life - there are no universal truths when it comes to strategy.

Firstly, are we talking about strategy formulation or strategy execution?

Secondly, are we talking about strategy through creativity or strategy through analysis?

Thirdly, are we talking about strategy as 'vision' or strategy as 'tactic'?

Fourth, what is strategy in one context is not in another context.

Fifth, who is it exactly within the organisation that needs to be 'strategically' developed?

My experience in hundreds of corporations and organisations is that each has its context, character and requirements - sometimes the development of 'strategy' is dominant and sometimes it is secondary.

If you want to develop strategy as 'vision' in a left-brain organisation then the person/people trying to sell the vision will struggle and meet resistance. Conversely, a left-brain person trying to sell strategy as 'tactic' to a right-brain organisation will meet with indifference.

The problem with 'strategy capability' in organisations is that people assume it is a single simple concept when in fact it's much more complex.

Ultimately, good strategy is that which helps the organisation achieve its objectives; and the people who need to develop strategic skills are those who are empowered and entrusted to find the course to satisfaction.

Industry experience is important and its needed presence on a board is reasonably obvious.

However the problem is when a board is composed of predominantly industry-based directors. There is not enough "outside" experience that can bring lateral and 'out of the box' solutions to the corporation.

Using the argument of enhancing industry experience to enhance performance, one might argue that corporations composed solely of industry-based directors should outperform those corporations with fewer industry-based directors. This is demonstrably incorrect. Performance to circumstance and challenge is context specific.

Surely the directors' role is to not only know the corporation's industry (that's a given) but should also have experience in bringing solutions to the corporation's context. This may or may not require specific industry knowledge. Some of the issues may require knowledge of value-chain, HR, IT, up-stream and down-stream management, financial systems, compliance, governance and so on. These are not necessarily industry specific issues although they may be.

As an analogy, there are two types of strategists: those from within an industry with extensive experience of it; and those strategists who work in all industries and understanding how stuff is done elsewhere and can import a valid solution.

The problem with the first type is they think 'like the industry'. If they were so effective, there would be no problems in those industries in which they are found because they would have solved the problems. A strategist is a tactician who has experienced other approaches to problems and knows what does work, what can work and what doesn't work.

Directors are the same.                                           

I am pleased to announce our second issue of the Independent Consulting Collaboration(ICC) catalogue. ICC is a unique approach to providing expert and experienced business, technical and organisational consulting and advisory skills to corporations and organisations.

ICC is a group of independent specialists (some might say “experts”) who work with management in medium to large corporations and organizations.

 

Between us, we have diverse and recent experience in corporations - helping to manage them, guide them, advise them, and when asked, to ‘fix’ them.

 

The people listed in the attached catalogue of skills and capabilities are extremely competent, experienced and skilled advisors in a wide range of business, technology and organization-related areas.

 

The objective of the catalogue is to provide boards and management with a panel of high quality and technically proficient resources that you will retain, refer to, and call on when you need a particular competence.

 

Advantages of using the ICC include:

• You have one source for diverse expertise;
• You have access to successful, experienced and motivated people;
• You save precious time, money and get the result you want;
• Instead of paying high corporate overheads, you pay only for the service received;
• Rather than going through intermediaries, you determine the most effective way to work;
• In place of surcharges or additional fees there is nothing additional to budget;
• You deal with the expert directly – no middle-party or additional costs or charges.

If you would like a free copy of the ICC catalogue, please email me at jacoby@jacobyconsulting.com.au. Please have a look through the attached document and call me if you have any questions or call the expert advisor directly if you wish to discuss any of the services and capabilities listed.