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Wrong Facilitator: Many
companies used facilitators who had not studied, published, or taught strategy
at the university level. Well-intentioned facilitators are great at
meeting facilitation but doing SWOT analysis, mission statement, and objectives is
NOT strategic planning. Make sure your facilitator has at least
studied the basic texts and
demonstrated effective mastery by applying them
or publishing in a national periodical.
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Thinking strategy is an event.
Strategy is not an event but a way of
thinking. Your facilitator should be capable of transforming your team's
beliefs with experiential approaches that challenge assumptions shift
thinking to higher levels. Fill-in-the-blanks and
pre-packaged programs are not thinking and typically
produce only a tactical plan mimicking strategy.
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Seeing rival companies as the only competitive threat.
Most threats are not rivals and encompass
many forces which need to be considered before developing
strategy. Ignoring these limit the possibilities of winning.
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Not performing reconnaissance and course correction.
Results of an initial strategy event
still require adjustments to market realities. We have found better
results when clients craft strategy over time after they've
tested and researched assumptions.
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Relying on experts. The
greatest strategies were all deemed stupid or impossible by industry
experts. If experts agree with your strategy, you've done nothing
innovative to outmaneuver the competition. Why do you think Southwest
Airlines, Progressive Insurance, and others ignored expert opinion to
leapfrog their industry. Remember, your goal is to out-intuit the
enemy's moves; you've done this if you've out-intuited the experts.
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Being seduced by the tools.
Many strategy analysis tools can be so
seductive you forget why they were invented. We've seen Scenario
Planning applied before a strategy was even developed, Mission/Vision
developed without knowing the battlefield or enemy conditions, and SWOT
analysis used without knowing the fundamentals for shifting the basis of
competition. Make sure your facilitator not only has tools, but knows how
to use them.
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Thinking strategy is about analysis.
We feel that Kenich Ohmae said it best -
true strategy lies beyond the reach of conscious analysis. Your power is
in the domain of intuition. Unfortunately there are no off-the-shelf
strategy programs for invoking intuition. Make sure your facilitator
knows how to produce this experience with your team.
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Wrong participants. Your
strategy team needs to be able to think out 3 to 5 years. The research
of Dr. Elliott Jaques found that this is probably a biological
condition, and not everyone can do it. Be sure the right people are in
the room otherwise your strategy meeting will degrade to an operational
focus.
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Not developing the executive team.
When strategy improves so must
leadership. Implementing a new strategy can be hindered by old ways of
leading. Take your executive team functioning to a higher leadership
level to ensure successful implementation.
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Letting past beliefs invent the future.
What has worked in the past rarely
ensures success in the future; unless your competition is really stupid.
How your team sees the world could stop it from creating new
possibilities for winning. Make sure your facilitator knows how to
uncover old beliefs and generate new ones.
