now. your conversation the better one. In the initial phases of strategy discussions, all ideas are welcome. The broader your initial perspective, the better the outcome you will achieve. Make The most likely strategy is the future that gets your team the most excited, and that inspires all attending to want to take this journey together. All future paths are possible; what changes is the timeline to arrive at the destination, based on resources available to solve challenges or problems that arise along the journey. The leader (not the facilitator unless they are also the leader) is the ultimate authority to determine which strategic future to select. Are all of you willing to look into the future to determine what it will be like for us? Are you willing to ignore the past, realizing that history never repeats itself, only the unlearned lessons do? Reviewing our Vision, is this the future we want to create? If not, what is our upgraded Vision? What would it be worth to our customers, our community, and humanity to make this happen? What might we improve bringing more value to our customers, our community, and humanity? If we could do anything we Smart Strategy Questions Consider these questions:
remaining fully focused on contemplating and discussing your strategy. This may be best facilitated in an off-site location where participants may find inspiration and better maintain an open mind. More complex discussions will require more time; perhaps a full day rather than a half day.
Recognize that there are nested strategies. There is a company strategy, which is determined by the top leader and approved by the board. There are department strategies that support the company strategy. These are determined by each department leader and are approved by the leader’s executive. There can be no compromise with whatever strategy you adopt: either you’re 100 percent committed or you need to find another strategy to which you’re 100 percent committed.
Conducting Your Strategy Day
Conduct a brief strategy training at the beginning of the day to get all aligned and set the direction of the meeting. Cell phones off and put away for the entire meeting duration. Open the meeting with an invitation to put aside all other thoughts so all of the cognitive capacity in the room can be focused on the future, not the past. If the discussion goes off topic, gently guide the conversation back to the strategy. Any question that starts with when, where, how, or who (Tactics) gets parked until the what and why conversation is complete and agreed upon. All discussion becomes focused on the future, not rehashing history, and makes no excuses about why the future is supposedly impossible. Keep in mind that your best competitor is having the same conversation right When conducting your meeting, eliminate all distractions.
Tactics
Consider bringing in a third- party facilitator who can: Set up your team’s mindset Keep your Strategy Day on track and unstuck Lead the most useful conversation sequencing See to it that the details that emerge are recorded Balance the power among all who are participating Be able to spot and call out negative influences that can derail the meeting (the role of a shadow watcher.) Potentially bring an outside perspective. Schedule at least a half-day when no one who is participating will be distracted or interrupted and devote the time to
Page 69
Powered by FlippingBook