strategy as simple rules - institute for defense & business · group 4- data integrity and...

Strategy as Simple Rules

Chris BinghamProfessor and Area Chair of Strategy & EntrepreneurshipPhilip Hettleman Distinguished ScholarCo-Director, Kenan Entrepreneurship InitiativeUNC Chapel Hill

/ 01

Can the patient follow

instructions?

/ 02

Does the patient have a pulse

rate below 120 or a

respiratory rate between 10-

30 breaths per minute?

Medicine “Rules” for effective triage

4

“Rule” for locating serial criminal:

Take the midpoint of the two most recent crime

scenes

Criminology

02

Head in the

same

direction as

your nearest

neighbors

01

Avoid

collisions

03

Stay close to

your nearest

neighbors

Simple Rules can drive complex adaptive behavior

01As long as someone

walks over you, you stay

put

CAPTION CAPTION

What are simple rules?

CAPTION

Short cut strategies that save time and

effort by focusing our attention and

simplifying how we think

CAPTION CAPTION

How can organizations

benefit from simple rules?

CAPTION

"Then we have all our rules here. We've got our rules, so you can't

have more than 42 minutes. These are just things you just have to

remind yourselves of all the time. The rules are important”

NO YES

Many rules or scripted

routines

Universal rules (your rules

are my rules)

Vision statement or

platitudes

Simple rules are

simple (few, not many)

Simple rules depend

on the person and

situation

Simple rules relate to a

defined activity

Features

of Simple

Rules

Eat real food that

your grandmother

would recognize

1

CAPTION

2

CAPTION

Eat small

portions

3

CAPTION

Eat mostly

plants

Always eat

breakfast1

CAPTION

2

CAPTION

Stay

hydrated

3

CAPTION

Eat as much as

you want, and

anything you want

as long as you

can pick it, pluck

it or kill it

CAPTION CAPTION

Types of simple rules

CAPTION

Boundary rules• Focus leaders on which opportunities can be

pursued and which are outside the scope

How-to rules• Spell out the key features of how a process is

executed

Priority rules • Help leaders rank the accepted opportunities

Timing rules• Synchronize leaders with the pace of

emerging opportunities and other parts of the

company

Stopping rules• Help leaders decide when to pull out of

yesterday's opportunities

CAPTION CAPTION

What value do you

see in simple rules?

CAPTION

CAPTION CAPTION CAPTION

RELATIONSHIP

BETWEEN

STRUCTURE AND

PERFORMANCE

(Davis, Eisenhardt, and Bingham, 2009)

17

S I M P L E R U L E S A P P L I C A T I O N


S I M P L E R U L E S A P P L I C A T I O N


Understand strategic priorities

Locate bottleneck

Create simple rules

S I M P L E R U L E S : W O R K P L A C E A P P L I C A T I O N


Locate bottleneck

Create simple rules

Group 1- Disruptive Technology: Carly Deskins, Ronald Wright, Willie King, Clifton Luber, Allison Edwards, Jaime Alvarez,

Rickey Hawkins

Many emergent technologies such as nanotechnology, additive manufacturing, AI, Block Chain and IoT are becoming more

predominant in logistics. In what ways will disruptive technology make military logistics easier and in what ways more

difficult?

Group 2- Logistics Transportation: Michelle Starr, Richard Sullivan, Rosalie Pena, Anitria Wright, Chris Greene, Todd

Diskey

Transportation and distribution systems required to support military logistics are complex and difficult to manage. This

sometimes creates readiness challenges. In what ways can we rethink our transportation and distribution systems?

Group 3- Contracting/budget policies: Colin Eshleman, Zealetta Barton, Leah Cotton, Patrick Kelleher, Gerard Dale,

Jacob Kotula

The DoD contracting process is criticized as being convoluted, bureaucratic time-consuming and inefficient. How might we

reconsider these policies and processes?

Group 4- Data integrity and availability: Adam Tutulo, Steven Douglas, Anthony Sanders, Ida Mae Jackson, Judy

Stafford, Angela Schueller

Data integrity and availability impact many processes in the DoD, including demand forecasting. In what ways can we

improve data access and reliability?

Group 5- Disruptive Technology: Richard Alexander, Scott Long, Karen January. Carlos Rodriguez Rivera, Ally Caro,

David Hansell

Many emergent technologies such as nanotechnology, additive manufacturing, AI, Block Chain and IoT are becoming more

predominant in logistics. In what ways will disruptive technology

Group 6- Cyber Security: Kurt Carlson, Dylan Hayden, Sandra McCandies, Ekaterina Thormann, Pamela Bartlett, Montez


1.What are our top priorities?

2.How do we measure progress on those

priorities?

3.What are our specific goals related to

progress (i.e., quantify measures in step 2)?


Locate bottleneck

Create simple rules


•What is preventing us from reaching our goals?

1.Does it represent ongoing decisions (vs. one-off

choices)?

2.Is it a specific activity (vs. an overarching process)?

3.Does it require coordination with others?


Locate bottleneck

Create simple rules


•What data can we use to develop rules?

•What rule categories do we have/not have? (Boundary,

How-to, Priority, Timing, Stopping)

•Which rules are most important?

•How can we quickly and cheaply test first-cut rules?


Locate bottleneck

Create simple rules

MORE INFO

MORE INFO

MORE INFO

1.What is preventing us

from reaching our

goals?

• Does it represent

ongoing decisions?

• Is it a specific activity?

• Does it require

coordination with

others?


Locate bottleneck

Create simple rules

1.What are our top

strategic priorities?

2.How do we measure

progress on those

priorities?

3.What are our specific

goals related to

progress (i.e.,

quantify measures in

step 2)

1.What data can we use

to develop rules?

2.What rule categories

do we have/not have?

3.Which rules are most

important?

4.How can we quickly

and cheaply test first-

cut rules?

01. 02. 03.

SIMPLE RULES SUMMARY


W R A P - U P

The counter-intuitive insight is that

when environments become more

ambiguous and complex, the most

effective strategies are often the

most simple

1 2

3 4

Simple rules balance the

tension between flexibility and

efficiency

Simple rules

produce better

decisions

Simple rules promote

collective behavior

The simplicity of rules makes them hard to

imitate

W R A P - U P

P O W E R O F P E R S P E C T I VE


D I S C U S S I O N

What are the broader skills and

behaviors that will help you

manage dynamism as a leader?

C R E A T I V I T Y : N A T U R E O R N U R T U R E ?

32

*

* In a IBM poll of 1500 CEOs creativity was cited as the #1 “leadership competency” of the future. See - IBM, “Capitalizing on Complexity: Insights from the Global Chief Executive Officer Study,” May 18, 2010


S U R V E Y

For each question give yourself a score of 1-5

1 = strongly disagree

2 = somewhat disagree

3 = neutral

4 = somewhat agree

5 = strongly agree

Please answer based on your actual behavior NOT what you would

like to do


• DELIVERY SKILLS - The EVEN-numbered

items.

– Very high = 45 and above

– High = 40-45

– Moderate to High = 35-40

– Moderate to Low = 29-34

– Low = 28 or less

Source: Dyer et al., 2009

S U R V E Y


• DISCOVERY SKILLS - The ODD-numbered

items.

– Very high = 45 and above

– High = 40-45

– Moderate to High = 35-40

– Moderate to Low = 29-34

– Low = 28 or less

S U R V E Y

CAPTION CAPTION

WHERE ARE YOU NOW?

WHERE DO YOU WANT TO BE?

CAPTION

QUESTIONING

WHAT ARE THE KEY DISCOVERY SKILLS?

NETWORKIN

GOBSERVING

EXPERIMENTIN

G


DESCRIBE THE IDEAL VACATION

FOR THE PERSON NEXT TO YOU

80% of children under the age of 8 must be sedated to get a get a reliable scan


QUESTIONING• Survey questions: 3, 11, 17

High = 12+

Medium = 7-11

Low = 6 and below

• Personal application: Ask questions that both impose

and eliminate constraints; this will help you see a

problem or opportunity from a different angle.

– What are two things you can do to ask better

questions?

QUESTIONING


NETWORKIN

GOBSERVING

EXPERIMENTIN

G


THE STRENGTH OF WEAK TIES


BOARD OF DIRECTORS

• Diane B. Greene - Naval architecture

• John L. Hennessy – Computer Science

• Ann Mather – Accounting

• Alan R. Mulally – Aeronautical engineering

• Paul S. Otellini – Economics

• K. Ram Shriram – Math

• Shirley M. Tilghman - Biochemistry


HOW WILL YOU BETTER NETWORK?

• Personal application:

– Take 5 minutes and send an email/text to

someone you admire asking if he/she

would be willing to be on your personal

board of advisors.

Survey questions: 1, 11, 13

• High = 12+

• Medium = 7-11

• Low = 6 and below

Personal application: Create your own

personal board of advisors with weak ties

QUESTIONING


NETWORKIN

GOBSERVING

EXPERIMENTIN

G


HELIOTROPIC EFFECT


OBSERVATION OF POSITIVE

COMMUNICATION• 60 firms

• Public and private companies

• 16 industries


POWER OF POSITIVE COMMUNICATION

SOURCE: Gittell, Cameron, Lim 2006


OBSERVE PEOPLE’S STRENGTHS

SOURCE: Cameron, 2014


EXERCISE• Think of at least 3 people in the room to whom

you will give positive feedback based on what

you have observed interacting with them.

Everyone will stand and pair up with a person of

your choice. You have 1 minute to address the

following:

1. Here is what I have noticed about your strengths; or

here is what I admire.

2. Here is an example of when I saw you display that

strength or capability (i.e., this is an example of you

at your best).

• This process will be repeated 3 times with 3

different people across 3 minutes. You will move

to next person after 60 seconds


EXERCISE

• Take 1 minute and write down what you heard.

• Draw some conclusions about your strengths as

a leader based on the feedback you received.

• Write down at least one way you can leverage

your strength to better manage ambiguity.


EXERCISE

• Energy: How did energy in the room

change as people observe and

provide positive feedback?

• Emotions: What were your feelings

when receiving feedback?

• Connections: How does this

positive feedback influence your

ability to lead and manage

ambiguity?


OBSERVING

• Survey questions: 5, 15, 19

High = 12+

Medium = 7-11

Low = 6 and below


–What can you do to improve

observation?

QUESTIONING


NETWORKIN

GOBSERVING

EXPERIMENTIN

G


EXPERIMENTING

Create

MeasureLearn


+

+ = TAX

RETURN

SNAPTAX: EXPERIMENT #1



Downloadfreeapp

Answerquestions

SnapphotoofW2fromphone

e-Filefromphone

“We plan to use our location in Dallas, Ga., to learn how best to work with our

partners to deliver the quality, affordable and accessible care customers want, with

the goal to take the Walmart Health center model to the other communities we

serve, starting with our second location opening in Calhoun, Ga., early next year.”

- Sep 16, 2019


EXPERIMENTING

• Survey questions: 7, 9, 15

High = 12+

Medium = 7-11

Low = 6 and below


–What can you do to improve

experimentation?

S U M M A R Y

•Practice questioning, networking, observing, and

experimenting skills

•Practice makes the skills part of your DNA and allows

you to become increasingly confident of your ability to

lead in dynamic environments

•What is one area you would like to focus on?

•What is one small but specific thing you will you do

this week to improve?


PERSONAL PLAN

• WHAT?

–What have I learned?

• SO WHAT?

–What have I learned that has high

relevance for me?

• NOW WHAT?

–What is my plan for improvement?


DON’T LIVE BELOW YOUR

PRIVILEGES

Thank you!

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