HOW TO DEFINE A STRATEGY
WHAT EXACTLY IS A «STRATEGY»?
“Managers spend significant resources on consulting and training, in the hope of creating brilliant strategies, but all too often brilliant strategies do not translate into brilliant performance” [1].
[1] K. Verweire, Strategy Implementation, London, 2014, https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315849447
A strategy is both the formulation of a plan and its translation into a concrete set of actions.
Strategies must be clear, concise and precise, and be well-known and understood by all the actors who take part in achieving an objective.
Strategies must be calibrated on past successes and failures, and consider changes in technology, society and the world in general, such as the spread of digital technologies.
TIME IS LIMITED.�IT NEEDS TO BE COMPARTIMENTALIZED.
[2] G. Weiss, Center for Social Innovation, https://ri-links2ua.eu/object/news/419/attach/9_RI-LINKS2UA_Odessa_WPdefining_Gorazd.pdf
Given infinite time, every strategy can be considered effective. But in the real world, time is the first and most important constraint that needs to be taken into account.
An effective tool to track time and progress is the Gantt Chart[2]. Basically, it is the graphical illustration of a schedule.
On the Horizontal Axis, time is divided into months.�On the Vertical Axis, tasks are shown.
THE DIVISION OF LABOUR
• Work package: a major sub-division of the proposed project.
• Task: Part of a work package, describing one of the steps or a smaller section of the work.
• Deliverable: a distinct output of the project, meaningful in terms of the project's overall objectives. It can be a report, a document, a technical diagram, software component, etc.
• Milestones: control points in the project that help to chart progress. Milestones may correspond to the completion of a key deliverable, allowing the next phase of the work to begin.
The European Union suggests the following division of a project into tasks and subtasks:
European Commission, Managing Projects, https://ec.europa.eu/chafea/health/beneficiaries-corner/documents/factsheet-03.pdf
These tasks should be assigned respectively to the most competent subjects in their own area of expertise.
REAFFIRMING THE STRATEGY
• The strategy is based on new concepts, new technologies or if it requires non-routinary actions to be performed.
• The strategy requires different work methodologies than usual (e.g., those entailed by a digital-transformation strategy).
It is very difficult to obtain a lasting change following the implementation of a strategy, especially if:
European Commission, Managing Projects, https://ec.europa.eu/chafea/health/beneficiaries-corner/documents/factsheet-03.pdf
For this reason, it is advisable to continuously reaffirm the objectives and the ways to reach them.�It is practically impossible that after one simple briefing a whole institution or work group will immediately change their ways and implement the strategy. To change a routine, it is needed to act repeatedly to break old habits and create new ones.
A balance must however be struck between being excessively pedantic, almost to the point of obsession, and doing almost nothing to ensure that the strategy is understood and internalized.
Therefore, applying good dissemination principles can be very helpful for a successful strategy implementation.
AN EFFECTIVE DISSEMINATION PLAN
Tale Center for Clinical Investigation, Strategies for Disseminating Research Findings, https://www.idaea.csic.es/sites/default/files/CARE-Beyond-Scientific-Publication-Strategies-for-Disseminating-Research-Findings.pdf
Be responsive: Consider your target audiences when deciding on document type.
Be concise: Make it short and to the point; be sure that information is easy to find.�Be interesting: Sort through all findings, and present just those that are new and/or compelling.
Be logical: Make sure the points progress in a logical order.
Always consider the usefulness of your dissemination: write clear conclusions and recommendations; if readers know what to do with the information, they will be more likely to apply it.
When writing documents for dissemination…
DON’T BE AFRAID TO CHANGE YOUR WAYS
- Leaders often require ways to be changed, without changing their own.
- More strategies than fail to be correctly implemented, resulting in stagnation and ineffectiveness.
- Failure is a part of life: it must not be viewed as something from which it is impossible to recover from, but rather as the beginning of meaningful change.
- Mistakes need to be deeply analyzed to understand what went wrong and how things can be changed in the future.
- Leaders who require change are the first who need to change constantly to ensure the effectiveness of their leadership.
- There is no magic recipe to always succesfully implement a strategy. Each individual is different, and so is each team and each project. However, keeping some of the principles written in this presentation in mind and being aware of past mistakes are certainly good starts.
AN EXAMPLE OF EFFECTIVENESS FROM THE REAL WORLD:�THE MERCEDES-AMG PETRONAS FORMULA 1 TEAM
In one of the most competitive and strategic sports in the world, the Mercedes-AMG team won both the Drivers’ Championship and the Constructors’ Championship each year from 2014 to 2020. How?
and reiterated race after race (on a weekly basis). The plan may change in some details to maximise effectiveness,
but the principles remain the same and are perfectly interiorized by the team members.