Strategy is not continuous improvement, expanding market share, change management, marketing, social media, etc...
Strategy actually encompasses all these things as they are critical aspects to an organization's function. When people hear strategy, they tend to bucket it into one category.
This often leads to one dimensional initiatives that leave significant gaps.
Strategy can be defined as a long-term plan for achieving a specific goal or set of goals, a vision. It is a way for organizations to align their resources and actions in order to achieve a vision. It's getting everyone to row the boat in the same direction.
How often have you been in a meeting or situation, where you find out a team is working on something that completely contradicts what your team is working on, or is working on something similar, and/or is asking for the same resources you need?
It happens more often than you'd think. It usually happens because an organization lacks strategy.
As an organization grows, it's much easier for silos to form. The intimacy we once had as a smaller organization dissipates. There are more people, new leaders, multiple locations, different functions, potential acquisitions, and other great opportunities.
All the amazing things that come with growth.
However, if growth isn't managed mindfully, those amazing new resources and opportunities can become new obstacles or liabilities.
One popular framework for developing and implementing strategy is the balanced scorecard. The balanced scorecard is a management tool that helps organizations to track and measure their progress towards achieving their strategic goals. It does this by looking at four key perspective areas: financial performance, customer perspective, internal business processes, and learning and growth.
In the financial perspective, organizations track financial metrics such as revenue and profitability in order to measure their financial performance.
The customer perspective looks at how well the organization is meeting the needs and expectations of its customers. This includes metrics such as customer satisfaction and loyalty.
The internal business processes perspective focuses on the internal processes and systems that enable the organization to deliver value to its customers. This includes metrics such as efficiency and quality.
Finally, the learning and growth perspective looks at the organization's ability to continuously learn and adapt in order to improve its performance. This includes metrics such as employee satisfaction and development.
By setting strategic objectives in these four areas, and tracking and measuring their performance, it provides a holistic approach for managing and executing strategy. Which enables organizations to make informed decisions and course correct as needed in order to stay on track and achieve success.
It provides a strong foundational structure with a lot of of flexibility to meet the needs of any organization.
If you are curious to learn more or have questions, reach out to me directly.