aligned strategy
TRANSCRIPT
Aligned Strategy
Faster results, less risk
Overview
Change today: more, faster, interacting
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• Strategic
unpredictability
• Hyper-competition
and increased
commoditisation
• Intense scrutiny of
organisations and
their leaders
• Change fatigue
Many organisations held back by yesterday‟s approaches
Deployment
Speed:
• Link to individual goals
• Clear prioritisation
Reduced risk:
• Coverage and clarity
• Auditable
Results we want
Alignment (head / gut)
Speed:
• Individual level – greater
confidence and courage
• Exec / Board level – lower
resistance to change
Reduced risk:
• Diverse views at Exec /
Board level
Decision Power(individual, team and organisation
ability to decide and implement)
Openings for action
Organisations need to respond faster, with lower risk
Purpose / Clarity
Speed:
• Creates drive and
energy; reduces
defensiveness
Reduced risk:
• Builds broader alliances
and support
Client examples Diagnostics &1:1 Support
Team workshops
Large group engagements
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Multiple ways to support you
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Business Model: unifying the logical picture
• One unified
picture of
business.
• Multiple uses:
diagnosis,
analysis, design.
Wiring Diagram: integrating logic and intuition
• Facilitates open
discussion
• Makes the
intuitive “wiring
diagram” more
visible
• Allows data to be
brought to the
table, without
trumping intuition
completely.
Polarities: revealing gut intuition
• Team-based “gut
feel” diagnostic.
• Identifies areas
of alignment and
areas that need
more work.
Thinking Tools examples
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Strategy Briefing: creating aligned action
• Confirms “gut”
and “head” are
aligned
• Provides basis
for empowered
delegation
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Client examples
Client Situation What we did Results
Financial
advisory
business
• New MD and
substantially new Exec
team
• Major changes in
regulation were going to
disrupt the existing
business model
• Helped leadership team align their intuitive
understanding of their business with a fact-
based view of the rapidly changing business
environment
• Helped them redesign end to end business
model and plan to implement it
• Turnaround in business
performance: from flat
revenue and losses to
growing revenue and profits
Media
business
• Fragmented and
contentious Board that
wanted to align on a
strategy for responding
to the coming shift to
digital
• Worked with Board to change how they
thought about their role; suggested changes
to Board membership to support this
• Worked with internal Strategy team to
understand the impact of technology,
changing competitive dynamics, and channel
shifts
• Ran interactive sessions with Leadership
Team to create clarity about the current
situation and alignment about the right
direction for the business
• Re-invigorated and more
productive Board
• Shared understanding of
strategic situation and
implications of current
behaviour
• New purpose, strategy, key
priorities and action plans
• Business maintained revenue
in falling market, hit internal
targets for revenue and profits
Professional
services
firm
• Major changes in
regulation expected to
lead to consolidation
and emergence of new
competitors
• First review of strategy
in 4 years
• Identified what the leadership’s intuitive
thinking showed about the direction for the
firm
• Highlighted overlooked competitive dynamics
and reframed strategic choices
• Worked with senior partner to identify and
communicate firm’s purpose in a way that
hadn’t been seen before
• Enthusiastic support from
partnership group for major
change in direction,
streamlined governance
arrangements, new market-
facing organisation and more
focused delivery approach
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Client examples (continued)
Client Situation What we did Results
European
arm of
global
technology
business
• Approaching market
saturation for existing
offerings
• Rapidly changing
customer requirements
• Fragmented, multi-
cultural Board
• Worked with European Board to understand
options for the business and align on a
chosen direction
• Chosen direction being
translated into an integrated
programme of action across 8
major European countries
Financial
services
firm
• Major disruption to
business model; need
for fundamental re-think
of strategy
• Regulatory constraints
on growth
• New MD moving into
much bigger role and
taking on a well
established, very
experienced Exec team
• Worked with MD to clarify his thinking about
the business and how he wanted lead his
new team
• Worked with MD and Exec team to clarify the
reality of the business, create unified
purpose for the business, and translate that
into a combined set of initiatives to reshape
the operating model
• Implemented changes to
create new operating model
• Major reduction in cost
• Integration of operating
platforms
• Improvements in employee
satisfaction and engagement
Niche
services
business
• Market and regulatory
dynamics putting long
term pressure on current
business model, while
creating a short term
opportunity to move to a
new, unproven one that
might have more
sustainability
• Conducted a series of workshops to help
management team reach alignment around
direction for the business
• Helped team to break out of the “thinking
loop” and select specific actions to start with
• Worked with Chief Executive to gain Board
support
• Board agreement to transition
to new business model
• Changes underway on a “test
and learn” basis
• Early results indicate that
potential from new business
model may be even greater
than expected
“It‟s different, but it works.
We‟re more aligned as a
team, and there‟s more
energy around the place.”
“I‟m a better leader as a
result.”
“I learned a lot – about our
business, my team, and
myself.”
“Never thought we could move as
fast as we have. We got started
where we were aligned, while we
sorted out the rest.”
“There‟s less „us and them‟.
I know what I need to do,
and how I‟ll get it done”
“I had a say in what we‟re doing. I
may not agree with all of it, but I‟d
rather be here doing what we‟re
doing than anywhere else.”
What do people say about Aligned Strategy?
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“It‟s clear where we‟re going –
and why.”
“Helped us address
some issues we‟d
avoided for years.”
Appendix – The science behind our practice
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• Weeks, months
• Can be independently verified / duplicated
All humans use two decision-making systems
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Gather facts and data
Select option to maximise objectives
Create and evaluate options
“Head”: Explicit mental models – logical, analytical
• Hours, days
• Attention focuses on validity of options and
criteria
• Hours, days
• Rationale for decision can be explained and
justified
• New data or analysis can shift a decision (hence
analysis paralysis): “how do we know it’s right?”
Defines strategy and
plans
Potential for misalignment, delay,
resistance9
• Years, decades
• Experience almost impossible to duplicate
Gather experience
Match to experience and decide
Recognise situation
“Gut”: Implicit mental models – intuitive, holistic
• Seems to occur in an instant
• Attention focuses on “what’s really going on”
• Seconds, maybe minutes
• Rationale for decision often “back-filled” to give
appearance of being fact-based and logical
• Very hard to shift a decision: “it just feels right”
Drives “day job”
behaviour
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3
2
1
3
“Illusory Alignment” – hidden barrier to change
10Based in part on: Vuori, T, Healey, M P, and Hodgkinson, G P. "When People Agree whilst Disagreeing: Implicit and Explicit Mental Models in Group Cognition." In Proceedings of the Seventieth
Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management, Academy of Management, 2011.
Sim
ila
r “H
ea
d”
(usu
all
y h
ave
sa
me
fa
cts
, d
ata
,
log
ic, a
nd
ob
jecti
ve
s)
Similar “Gut”(usually similar work / life experiences)
Full Alignment: typical functional team
(particularly if long established / home grown)
• Behaviour of decision-making team: Examine
few options, reach decisions quickly, and then
implement them in sync and with commitment.
• Risk: May miss key aspects of situation, options, or
criteria to be considered, misread how things will
appear to others, or (more generally) misjudge how
things will turn out.
Surface Level Misalignment: typical new functional
group (perhaps cross-organisation or ad hoc)
• Behaviour of decision-making group: Examine
few options, take time to reach a decision (need to
get on the same page about the facts and logic),
then often find they build strong relationships across
the organisation and work increasingly in sync.
• Risk: Team members may start to be seen by staff
they used to work with as no longer responding to
their concerns. Additionally, may miss key aspects
of be considered or misjudge how things will turn
out.
Dis
-sim
ila
r “H
ea
d”
(usu
all
y h
ave
dis
-sim
ila
r fa
cts
, d
ata
,
log
ic, o
r o
bje
cti
ve
s)
Dis-similar “Gut”(usually dis-similar work / life experiences)
Full Misalignment: typical new, ad hoc, multi-
functional team (particularly if weakly sponsored)
• Behaviour of decision-making team: Struggle to
find any common ground until they can settle on the
facts, etc. Then they tend to behave like Illusory
Alignment.
• Risk: Team members may incorrectly attribute
difficulty in reach decisions to problems caused by
other team members – due to stupidity, lack of
integrity, personal (or other hidden) agendas, etc.;
critical cross-organisational issues go unresolved.
Illusory Alignment: typical multi-functional team
(Execs, Boards, established ad hoc teams)
• Behaviour of decision-making team: Examine a
wide range of options, then reach decisions quickly
(as they agree on the facts and logic), but may find
they lose commitment or get out of sync (as they
start to act from their “gut”).
• Risk: Valid “intuition-based” concerns may be
overlooked (as they can be hard to articulate in a
logic-based discussion); less than full follow-through
on decisions can lead to intra-team tensions.
Get to the sweet spot for faster results and less risk
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Bey
on
d
80
:20
Bu
ild b
road
ly s
har
ed b
ase
of
fact
s, d
ata
and
an
alys
is
Create shared perspective that combines “gut” intuitions
Provide new perspectives to test intuition
Fo
cu
s o
f m
ost
str
ate
gy w
ork
Focus of Aligned Strategy work
Dis-similar “Gut”
Illusory Alignment
Full Misalignment
Sim
ila
r “H
ea
d”
Similar “Gut”
Full Alignment
Surface Level Misalignment
Dis
-sim
ila
r “H
ea
d”
Faster, lower risk
Blinded by groupthink?
Same goals, different
maps
Different pieces of the
puzzle
Not even on the same
planet
Key Points
About Aligned Strategy
• Faster responses to rapidly changing
circumstances – with greater chance of
success
• Greater alignment and collaboration
• More energy, enthusiasm and
resilience
• Shared understanding of goals and
ways of reaching them
• More creativity and innovation
• Better prepared to respond to the
unpredictable
About MenKus & Associates
• Well established strategy and
implementation specialist
• Works across industries: fresh
thinking from outside
• Low key, non-controversial, builds on
what you already have
• Experienced set of Associates: small,
high-value teams, low overheads
• London-based, but works for clients
where it’s best for them
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www.menkus.net
+44 20 7349 7140
+44 7710 170 115
Suite 105
132 - 134 Lots Road
London SW10 0RJ
Aligned Strategy
Faster results, less risk