When You Need to Adjust or Change Your Strategy
Collated by Michael J Griffin
Rather than be cliché about the “constantly changing world,” let’s draw on metaphors of sailing a boat in winds of change. Then I will highlight some resources I have successfully employed to change my organization or my client’s strategy like a sailboat captain changes “tack” to carry out their mission to achieve his/her vision of success.
"A sailboat captain doesn't fight the wind — s/he reads it. The wisest leaders don't resist the forces reshaping their industry; they trim their sails and find the angle that turns wind resistance into positive momentum."
"Your strategy is never a straight line. Like a sailor tacking upwind, the most effective organizations reach their destination through disciplined, deliberate zigzags — each turn a conscious choice, not a sign of confusion."
"The captain who fixes the rudder in one position and walks below deck will find herself on the rocks. Leading through strategic change means staying on deck with your crew, hands on the wheel, eyes reading both the water ahead and the sky above."
"Your vision is the destination port. Your strategy is the course. The wind is the market. Trimming your sails, adjusting the rudder keeps them off the rocks. Great leaders know which of these they can control — and they spend their energy accordingly.
"An organization that refuses to adjust its strategy when conditions shift isn't being principled — it's sailing with a fixed sail in a turning storm. Conviction is the keel that keeps you upright; flexibility is the sail that keeps you moving."
"The crew that panics at or ignores every gust of wind will exhaust itself before reaching open water. But the crew that never questions the heading will sail confidently off the edge of the map. Strategic leadership lives in the discipline between those two failures."
“We all know the story of the ocean liner or seen the movie Titanic. Need I say more?”
My experience of setting strategy has been based on these authors and books that have led to my success as an entrepreneur and a strategic consultant for mu clients over the past 30 years. You don’t have to re-invent the wheel, but learn from these globally time-tested authors.
The Strategy Focused Organization by Dr. Kaplan and Dr. Norton. This very readable book how to successfully execute a strategy is harder than formulating it. Building on their “Balanced Scorecard” framework, they teach you how to build a “Strategy Map” by identifying five key principles that distinguish high-performing organizations: mobilizing change through leadership, translating strategy into operational terms, aligning the entire organization to strategy, making strategy everyone's job, and governing strategy as a continual process rather than a one-time event. They have written other subsequent books on strategy that you can research yourself. Their process works for corporates, non-profits, and even your personal life strategy. I was personally trained by Dr. Norton who I found to be a very gracious man. There is a good Wikipedia page on Strategy Mapping and its history https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strategy_map Strategy Mapping is my foundation for consulting.
Verne Harnish Gazelles, Inc. Scaling up Process. I have attended Verne’s “Scaling Up” sessions twice as they are motivating and very practical. Verne Harnish's Gazelles methodology, detailed in his book "Scaling Up," centers on four key decisions every growing company must get right: People, Strategy, Execution, and Cash. For strategy specifically, Harnish advocates identifying a single Core Customer, crafting a compelling Brand Promise, and defining a clear One-Page Strategic Plan. This plan captures a company's Core Values, Purpose, Big Hairy Audacious Goal (BHAG), annual priorities, and quarterly rocks — creating alignment from the leadership team down through every level of the organization. His tools of the Rockefeller Checklist, FACE Chart, and One Page Strategic Plan have been very helpful in ELAvate growth and success. Go to the website www.scalingup.com to learn more.
Gartner’s One Page Strategy. Gartner's one-page strategy map is a visual tool that condenses an organization's strategic priorities into a single, communicable page. It aligns business objectives across four perspectives — financial, customer, internal processes, and learning and growth — showing cause-and-effect relationships between goals. Its purpose is to make strategy visible and understandable to all stakeholders, ensuring organizational alignment and enabling leaders to communicate complex strategic intent simply and clearly. Gartner has a recent one-hour video on this topic.
Recent Harvard Business Review Summary of Strategy:Our Favorite Management Tips on Setting Strategy When the Path Is Unclear I am not allowed to republish this article by HBR. Click on the link to find a real treasure trove of tips and tactics to use to trim your organization sails and adjust the rudder through the winds of change.
John Maxwell’s Focus on the Human Side of Strategy. John Maxwell teaches that "hope is not a strategy," asserting that turning a vision into reality requires intentional systems, daily action, and thefoundational Law of Design. To maximize personal and organizational growth, you must develop actionable strategies and reliable systems rather than letting life happen by chance. Introduced in The 15 Invaluable Laws of Growth, Maxwell emphasizes intentional strategy planning. The previous authors I mentioned above do this well at the corporate level to give you strategic process and structure. I do suggest that your imbed Maxwell’s leadership and teamwork principles when implementing your strategy to get employee buy-in. Remember Maxwell says “Leaders touch the Heart before Asking for a Hand” – In implementing your organization’s strategy! Read Maxwell’s 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, the 17 Indisputable Laws of Teamwork, Put Your Dream to the Test, and the Five Levels of Leadership BEFORE you embark on gaining employee commitment to your strategic changes. Maxwell’s wisdom can move your strategy off paper to getting real results through employees and teams.
I have been helping organizations, both for profit and not for profit, develop, change or fine tune their strategy for over 30 years. Please contact me for a no obligation chat on how you might sail your corporate boat in these global winds of change!
Michael J Griffin
CEO and Founder of ELAvate
Strategy Change Consultant
Maxwell Leadership Founding Coach
michael.griffin@elavateglobal.com
+65-91194008 (WhatsApp)