attempt to do just that – present a coherent strategy Roadmap to success. Below the model follows a description on how it works, roles of leadership, strategy facilitators, and organisational members. Strategy is leadership. Thus strategy-making is a leadership sponsored process that generates organisation-wide collaboration and participation in which everyone determines their individual roles and understand how they contribute to the whole. The Strategy facilitator can use this Strategy Roadmap to help individuals or organisational teams develop their strategy. Ensuring wide participation in strategy development engenders measurable buy-in, corporate monitoring, and reporting performance of goals, objectives and targets.
The Conceptual Framework of the GH Strategy Roadmap How to Navigate the GH Strategy Roadmap
The Strategy Roadmap has four stations, each clearly guided by a specific directional impact question everybody should answer for themselves to remain relevant and included in their participation on the strategy journey. By answering these station impact questions, organisational members automatically get clarity on roles, critical tasks, and outputs required at each station for the success at the destination. Each station impact question, tasks and outputs generate clarity that guarantees the success at the next station. Success or failure at first station has a domino effect on the achievement at all subsequent stations of the Roadmap. Below we trace the logical steps in turn, and at each station.
Station One: Clarification of Reason For Being Why are we in this business?
Station One impact question is an existential question probing membership to critically ponder the reason for the existence of their business or chosen
endeavour. We have already said strategy is leadership. Processing this first impact question is a leadership role. This is a fateful question that determines final cumulative outcomes at the last station of the journey. If adequately processed, three impact outputs at this first station are; an organisational vision statement; mission statement; core values-principles statement 1
. Clear articulation
of organisational vision-mission and values statements sets the tone for the performance culture; organisational niche business; and the brand the organisation will get to be known for. At this first station leadership sounds a clarion call to rally members behind a powerful strategic business direction, with clear intended character of the organisation’s people, culture, and it’s branding. At this first station the Chief Executive Officer of the organisation ought to be the captain and top leader. They can hire the services of a facilitator, but they still need to be in driver’s seat, and in the room when those outputs are created.
The expected results from the vision, mission and values- principles statement are three distinct outcomes; the Master Goal; Organisational Priorities, and Strategic Objectives for the coming 3-5 years. The Master Goal is a long-term inspirational landmark. It is a brief terminal statement that says “By year X this organisation will have achieved Y impact in the business of doing Z” 2
.
For Organisational Priorities, leadership will articulate a few (3-6) critical areas in which the organisation will excel to bring about its uniqueness or profitability. Strategic Objectives are the task anchors that bring specificity to the qualitative and quantitative aspirations of the Master Goal.
The strategic objectives spell out deliverables to be achieved from the prioritised areas in the Master Goal. With that critical task at Station One, leadership will have determined the fate
of the organisation by mapping out and clearly projecting an unambiguous line of sight to the final destination on the strategy road. Right from the start, staff understands the reason for existence of the organisation in which they have chosen to be members; what business they are in; and what will they achieve by when.
Organisational members will
also get clarity and buy-in on how those intended achievements are organised for success; and finally, what sort of organisational character and culture will they work in. At that point leadership has completed their task and they can hand over the work to other functions and teams to lead from the rest of the stations. The Office of Strategy Management or an external strategy facilitator normally takes over from here. Leadership however, needs to be physically present at the close of the work of each station to approve the outputs at that station and declare victory once the vehicle has reached each milestone station. Therefore strategy development is a major organisational change effort. It requires leadership at its initiation, implementation and measurement. Organisations that are guided by strong strategy- making processes rarely suffer sudden heavy declines that require major organisation development interventions. This is because the strategy implementation plans produced at each of the four stations act as guards and guides to employees to notice emerging declines, and routinely take corrective measures as prescribed by the strategy Roadmap milestones of measurement, monitoring and reporting performance.
Station Two: Develop the Strategy
What Key Issues are Affecting our Organisation?
Station Two impact question is for organisational members to get down and dirty by assessing and evaluating mega trends at local, national
December 2011 | Management Today 87
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