Strategy points to the future, and often strategy talk envisages growth and
development. Could we actually say that these two are the elementary elements which
establish THE strategy. First, THE strategy, and therefore any strategy talk is
prone to revolve around a view toward the future. It could be said that strategy is about future. Secondly in this typical strategy
talk the second element is positive growth and development. Typically THE strategy talk advocates the idea that the target or object of strategy work - which can be sometimes part of the world, sometimes our
organization or department or perhaps some unit in our organization - is described to become much better than what
it is now, thanks to THE strategy.
Do these elements encapsulate the essential essence of any strategy? Is
this actually THE strategy, the very thing which is repeated in numerous
situations in numerous presentations and talks with some minor adjustments and
context related words and terms?
Let us see. Would it make sense if some strategy talk would not revolve
about future but about the past. Sounds a bit odd. Would it make sense if some
executives would present a strategy where things go downhill? Again sounds worryingly
odd. However, before we completely ignore these odd sounding strategy talk options,
we must dare to look what is happening in the real world. Are countries,
regions, organizations and all different entities and units constantly climbing
towards ever increasing success? Unfortunately not, it almost seems that
journey downhill is almost as common event as ascent to the next level of
success.
Hence could it also make sense to talk about past and also about problems,
possible reasons of not succeeding, when we would talk about strategy. Should
we in a way change a tone of whole strategy discussion. In this changed tone we
would talk more about real people, real organizations and real challenges on
the market place, and perhaps a bit less about plans, goals and aspirations.
Here I am first to emphasize that striving towards improvement, and therefore
things like Inspiring goals and challenging aspirations are of course elementary
part of strategy and sensible strategy work.
So let us first take a setting where strategy discussion would not ignore
past, but would actually very carefully analyze what we have achieved and what
we may not have reached, why we have done what we have done. It is very likely
that a lot what has been real and possible for us so far will continue to be
true to us in the future. Many of those things which define us as people and as
actors in organizational context, will continue to define us 1st of January,
when new strategy season starts. And again I am first to emphasize that change
is possible and actually everything is changing all the time. Also genuine
decision making and choosing new paths to proceed are elementary parts of
sensible strategy work. Yet the arrow of time in strategy talk should not point
solely to the future, understanding past which still defines us and the
way we can perform our combined organizational effort is also very, very
important.
How about the second element of THE strategy, typically a very heavy
emphasize of growth and development and a tendency to gloss over problems and
challenges. Certainly sometimes diminishing sales and other downturn features
are included into strategy talk, often these are such issues which people already
start to see in a similar way. However perhaps we should really try to uncover
problems and challenges as early as possible and even raise up issues which are
not nice and which are not yet generally recognized and which are also still
heavily debatable. That would offer an opportunity to start to create profound
new understanding about the changing real world and thus create a basis to
start to do corrective measures as soon as possible, well before "the shit
hits the fan" as the profound saying evocatively expresses the phenomenon.
Hence a neat
and clear arrow pointing up and the future is not THE strategy. Strategy is
tough work in real world and strategical decisions must be constructed on real
world events and complexities. Strategy does not hide, strategy uncovers and
reveals. Hiding would mean a movement from a real world into the world of plans
and aspirations. Real strategy keeps the complex reality in the front and as
clearly visible as possible. In that world strategy is a powerful tool that may
eventually mean that the desired movement up and forward becomes really possible,
and climbing to the next stratum of success happens in real world not solely in
hopeful plans.
