Strategic planning and strategy execution are two different things. Everyone can plan, but not all plans are easy to execute. If you reviewed the manifestos of so many politicians since 1996, a lot was put on paper, but not achieved. Why? Talk is cheap. It is easier said than done. Same thing happens with companies. Great plans are laid, but all fail at execution test. Leaders have a habit of taking a specific group of people for a strategy retreat once in a year. This is a good practice, if the selected team is representative of the core staff from…
Strategy perspective: What informs your business model?
Great leaders focus on having a great strategy and clear execution plan. To formulate a great strategy you need: Perspective through Exposure: who are you competing against in your business? Context: What do you need to change internally to become the best? Capabilities and systems: what resources do you need to succeed? The best way to get exposure is through travel or sightseeing and networking. When I go abroad, I make it a point to study the process flow and how value is created for customers, at the different businesses I come across. In Japan for example, street restaurants create…
The football strategy: find vacant positions and play there
What is the vacant space in your environment or life? Are you always fighting with others to unseat them or you find your own free space and occupy it? Apply the footballer strategy (explained below) to bring peace and satisfaction to your life and career. I used to love playing football while growing up. Today, I love watching it. During my primary and secondary school days, I played as “No. 9.” And I was damn great at it. Number nine is a striker’s playing position with one primary objective: use any chance to score as many goals. I had all…
What is your strategic context?
Many strategic plans fail at execution because they are formulated out of context. Many leaders go for a retreat for two to five days to formulate their strategic plan. They start with the following questions: What is our Vision: Where do we want to be? What is our mission: How do we get there? What values will guide our behavior and conduct? What are our strategic goals and objectives? What is the problem with the above? Most of the time, the ‘vision’ is out of context. It doesn’t resonate with today’s reality and dynamics. A company that was founded in…
Strategy perspective: your revenue sources
When a Soft Bread shop saw declining sales due to reducing walk-in customers, they went back to a strategy drawing table: why are people bypassing our shop and going straight into the supermarket to buy bread? The initial assumptions by the shop owners was that customers preferred buying bread from the Supermarket due to the convenience as a one-stop center shopping place i.e. in the supermarket, customers find everything they need in one place. It is surely convenient and faster than first branching off to a bread only shop, and then going into the supermarket to buy other items like…
A strategy that works: Perspective
What business are you really in? If you are in the education sector, what business are you really in? If you are an NGO, what business are you really in? When it comes to strategy formulation, the focus is not on input. It is on your business output. For example, if you have a college that provides secondary school training, your inputs are; Quality teaching facilities like classroom, teaching aid, playing areas, sports complexes, curriculum etc.; Quality human resource in terms of teachers and administration staff; Other amenities like great location and buildings, classrooms, dormitory among others; Unfortunately, your focus…
