Is this the dawning of the age of the strategist? Maybe we have a new song, here. Where is the 5th Dimension when you need them?
Actually, it is according to an article in the
McKinsey Quarterly by Birshan and Kar. Becoming more strategic: Three tips for any executive. But the authors are not necessarily discussing the traditional strategist. Instead they are writing about strategic thinking by corporate executives.
The article points out that “…more senior leaders in strategic dialogue makes it easier to stay ahead of emerging opportunities, respond quickly to unexpected threats, and make timely decisions.” Also, their study confirms what I have been writing about for two years, i.e., that business leaders are in their positions due to their functional skills, not their strategic skills.
One of the theories that I use in introducing clients to strategic planning, is the Blue Ocean Strategy. Most business people seem to understand the concept of re-inventing their industry. The type of clients I love to introduce this to are the artists because I use drawings which seem to trigger their right brain processes.
In regards to small business owners, I always use the same line to express their “functional” as opposed to “strategic” thinking. I tell them that small business owners want the answers to two questions: What are my sales? And, do I have enough cash to make payroll? This may sound funny, but stop an think of the way you think of your business.
If you are a musician, you may ask: What are my record sales? And, when are my next royalty checks due?
If you are to be an industry leader, you must get out of this mindset. You cannot lead thinking historically. You must think prospectively, and strategically.
The previously mentioned article offers three points to help you think strategically:
1. Understand what strategy really means in your industry
2. Become expert at identifying potential disruptors
3. Develop communications that can break through
These cryptic suggestions can help, but the most important suggestion is that you must clear the minds of you and your company. You can’t think strategically if you are struggling to put out fires. This only results with functional thinking.
Whether you are an artist, or a business person, you must think of your industry as ever-changing and full of opportunities waiting to be discovered. The place to start is with your target customer. What is the industry delivering to them that is useless? You’d be surprised in the superfluous services and products delivered to target customers because the industry players believe that is what the customer wants. When you find these attributes, it will free up resources to offer clients what they really need but not delivered.
After taking this first step, you can creatively redesign your industry one step at a time.