BUILDING A BUSINESS
OK, put some ‘strategery’ into that business strategy
Published: Monday, July 23, 2007 at 3:00 a.m.
Last Modified: Sunday, July 22, 2007 at 7:04 p.m.
"If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will do." –Socrates
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It’s a strange phenomenon, I think, that the need to carefully plan a wedding is so obvious but we don’t think we need any help to plan for our business success.
We’d hire a travel agent to organize our summer vacation but we won’t plan for our business success. We’d prepare a daily to do list but wouldn’t, well, you get the point. Why is this?
Countless business studies have shown that businesses with a disciplined and consistent process for formulating and implementing their strategy have out-performed their industry peers by a significant margin.
Are there exceptions? Always. But why bet the business on it? Why not travel in the shoes of proven performers and try it?
We all know the truth is that we do what we want. We have excuses for all the rest – anybody think they have more than I do for not getting to the gym? But we basically do what we want and excuse the rest.
For the most part, we seem to resist planning like Christmas fruitcake. If we don’t embrace a compelling reason to plan for our business success, the rest of our conversation will likely go up in smoke.
Let’s start with those excuses. "Too painful," you might say. "It’s too excruciating to give any time to what’s going to happen in the next few years when I can barely figure out how to get through the next few days.
"I haven’t returned half of my calls, I can’t see over my desk for all the paper, 15 people are lined up outside my door and I’m supposed to take time to do some planning? Why don’t you help me get some of this work done first and then we’ll talk about planning!"
This is one of the most common responses I hear. It’s unrealistic to expect any of us to drop everything to develop a plan, but it’s absolutely possible to set aside some time for it.
The other common explanation I hear is “Thanks but I already have a plan.” Great, I say. May I see it? “Well, it’s not exactly written down but it’s all right up here,” they respond, pointing to the private storage vault sitting atop their shoulders.
There’s also another major roadblock in our thought process about the importance of planning, which is consultants getting too fancy by plastering the word “strategy” everywhere and scaring off everyone still standing.
Business authors are guilty, too, of making “strategic planning” sound like something that’s as accessible to us as interplanetary space travel and nanotechnology. So, let’s agree to not only drop the excuses but to use a less intimidating term for this process.
I vote for "strategery," a very accessible term which doesn’t take itself too seriously. We can find time to engage in a little strategery without hurting ourselves and still do the serious business of comprehensive business planning.
To fans of Lewis Carroll, feel free to pick something crazy like "jabberwocky" if that makes it more approachable and easier to tackle.
I’d like to challenge you to do one thing over the next two weeks. Set aside a little quiet time for some strategery – an hour would be a great start – and write down all of the opportunities you see to build your business. New plant? New product line? Updated products? Geographic expansion?
Just jot those ideas in a simple list. When we get together again, we’ll talk about how to tackle that list and establish a consistent framework to identify those opportunities that will give your business its strongest competitive advantage.
•••
Lary Kirchenbauer is the practice leader for the Business Advisory Group of Moss Adams LLP in Santa Rosa, www.MossAdams.com. He can be reached at 415-602-7870 or Lary.Kirchenbauer@MossAdams.com.
–
It’s a strange phenomenon, I think, that the need to carefully plan a wedding is so obvious but we don’t think we need any help to plan for our business success.
We’d hire a travel agent to organize our summer vacation but we won’t plan for our business success. We’d prepare a daily to do list but wouldn’t, well, you get the point. Why is this?
Countless business studies have shown that businesses with a disciplined and consistent process for formulating and implementing their strategy have out-performed their industry peers by a significant margin.
Are there exceptions? Always. But why bet the business on it? Why not travel in the shoes of proven performers and try it?
We all know the truth is that we do what we want. We have excuses for all the rest – anybody think they have more than I do for not getting to the gym? But we basically do what we want and excuse the rest.
For the most part, we seem to resist planning like Christmas fruitcake. If we don’t embrace a compelling reason to plan for our business success, the rest of our conversation will likely go up in smoke.
Let’s start with those excuses. "Too painful," you might say. "It’s too excruciating to give any time to what’s going to happen in the next few years when I can barely figure out how to get through the next few days.
"I haven’t returned half of my calls, I can’t see over my desk for all the paper, 15 people are lined up outside my door and I’m supposed to take time to do some planning? Why don’t you help me get some of this work done first and then we’ll talk about planning!"
This is one of the most common responses I hear. It’s unrealistic to expect any of us to drop everything to develop a plan, but it’s absolutely possible to set aside some time for it.
The other common explanation I hear is “Thanks but I already have a plan.” Great, I say. May I see it? “Well, it’s not exactly written down but it’s all right up here,” they respond, pointing to the private storage vault sitting atop their shoulders.
Multiple interpretations abound
Unfortunately, we’ve learned that in every instance when a strategy assessment has been conducted, the different versions of the strategy described by members of the leadership team are truly breathtaking – and that’s when it is written down. It doesn’t take much time from there to conclude that this “plan” contains only a few data points leavened with lots of ideas – yet concepts and ideas hardly rise to the level of a realistically achievable plan.There’s also another major roadblock in our thought process about the importance of planning, which is consultants getting too fancy by plastering the word “strategy” everywhere and scaring off everyone still standing.
Business authors are guilty, too, of making “strategic planning” sound like something that’s as accessible to us as interplanetary space travel and nanotechnology. So, let’s agree to not only drop the excuses but to use a less intimidating term for this process.
I vote for "strategery," a very accessible term which doesn’t take itself too seriously. We can find time to engage in a little strategery without hurting ourselves and still do the serious business of comprehensive business planning.
To fans of Lewis Carroll, feel free to pick something crazy like "jabberwocky" if that makes it more approachable and easier to tackle.
I’d like to challenge you to do one thing over the next two weeks. Set aside a little quiet time for some strategery – an hour would be a great start – and write down all of the opportunities you see to build your business. New plant? New product line? Updated products? Geographic expansion?
Just jot those ideas in a simple list. When we get together again, we’ll talk about how to tackle that list and establish a consistent framework to identify those opportunities that will give your business its strongest competitive advantage.
•••
Lary Kirchenbauer is the practice leader for the Business Advisory Group of Moss Adams LLP in Santa Rosa, www.MossAdams.com. He can be reached at 415-602-7870 or Lary.Kirchenbauer@MossAdams.com.
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