Democratic Strategy

My strategy journey began years ago, and much like many of you, my strategic thinking evolved alongside my changing responsibilities. As it gradually became a more significant part of my role, I had the opportunity to observe different styles of strategy and strategy execution.

As a guest invitee to an executive meeting, I was able to offer alternatives to the sales lead’s assumptions regarding reasons for a mini-price war and the need for extra discount approval after the launch of a new product line. As a result, the price war was resolved without further issues. The experience taught me that it’s okay to bring different ideas into a closed circle.

However, I found the outcome somehow unsatisfying.

“Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.”

One of the most frequently asked questions I still encounter when talking about or teaching strategy is, “What is the strategy?”. This is particularly poignant, as it suggests the strategy was either not communicated to the right people or at all or pitched in a suitable manner to the audience. 

An old picture of strategy written in secret in a dark room by a small group often comes to mind.

One of my first genuine attempts to change thinking involved a quote often attributed to Einstein about insanity. 

The truth is though, that this approach didn’t win me many friends in management

“If You Always Do What You've Always Done, You'll Always Get What You've Always Got.” ~ Henry Ford”

While it’s true that strategy formulation has become more inclusive and transparent, and there is plentiful online content, studies continue to show that over half of companies fail to achieve long-term targets or execute successful M&A transactions.

Having personally experienced such outcomes, and not being able to change them alone, I continued for years in the same way, providing professional presentations, often getting thinly justified projects approved until I unexpectedly acquired responsibility for a corporate Market Intelligence function.

Through the process of modernising this function (now renamed and repurposed as Competitive Intelligence), I observed that large amounts of information collected & created by the strategy process were only shared with small groups, rarely used more than once, and filed away and typically forgotten. Like valuable assets locked in a vault. Even worse, it can sometimes be re-created from a new one a few years later. 

At first, I did not see a direct connection between strategy and CI. Once tightly integrated into a strategy process, it fell out of favour in the early part of this century as other models tantalised a rejuvenated strategy process, but today it has been realised by many strategy teams that it forms an inseparable part of the strategy function, especially in today‘s increasingly volatile and uncertain world and is being brought back into the fold. 

Thus, I came to the realisation that I already had the tools and the audience to elevate strategic competence across the organisation.

The Democratic Strategy principles I adopted

“Management is about persuading people to do things they do not want to do, while leadership is about inspiring people to do things they never thought they could.” - Jobs.

Recycling Strategy:  Information is a valuable resource and shouldn't be used just once. It is repurposed and shared with a broader audience possible.

Educative Strategy:  The CI function’s information sharing taught me 2 things. We don’t know enough about events happening around us, and we don’t know why we need to know them. The CI function educates and provides past and future insights, now shared with a broader audience to elevate overall strategic awareness.

Transparent Strategy: 

Simplified corporate messages and strategy narratives foster engagement and open discourse. When a close colleague once asked me why she was receiving a particular piece of information, as nice as it was, she helped me realise that I had not explained well enough “What does it mean for me?”

Where Do I Go From Here?

“Culture eats strategy for breakfast“ – P.Drucker

Yes, I‘m on a mission to democratise strategy. I didn‘t know that until recently, but it‘s obviously been developing for some time.

I‘m not advocating a new paradigm; the business world is replete with them, but championing comprehensive understanding and engagement with strategy processes. And while one person isn‘t likely to change things easily,  this is a purposeful journey that maybe elevates strategic competence.