Why they lack rigorous strategic thinking but can still be rescued.
You are someone who is aware of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) announced in 2015 by the United Nations. Their value is not in question – they are objectives the entire world hopes to realize.
But recently, Secretary General Antonio Guterres declared that the SDGs are on the path to failure.
Launching a special edition of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) progress report, he warned that their collective promise made in 2015 of a more green, just and equitable global future, is in peril.
“Unless we act now, the 2030 Agenda will become an epitaph for a world that might have been,” he said.
Like others, he offered a number of prescriptions. However, they aren’t likely to move the needle on disappointment looming on December 31st, 2030, the date on which they are supposed to be achieved.
Those of us who know about long-term strategic planning are horrified by the lack of progress, similar to everyone else. But for us, there’s more. This failure was inevitable due to fatal design flaws. By violating the fundamental principles of our narrow discipline, the UN cannot avoid the unfortunate situation it finds itself in.
Despite the tireless work by thousands of well-meaning people, a slow-moving disaster is taking place in real time.
However, with six years to go between 2023 and 2030, there is a vanishing opportunity to declare victory at the end of the decade. How? Continue reading to understand why a “hard reset” could save the world from disillusionment.
Many companies lack a formal product development unit. Instead, ideas are casually pitched to the CEO, and the next steps depend on their mood at the moment. This approach often falls short in delivering consistent innovation, resulting in products and services that closely resemble competitors’ offerings. If you’re a monopoly, your products might become stale over time. To stand out, you need innovative ideas that provide real value to your customers.
The challenge? You may not have the resources to hire a full-time R&D team, and even if you could, you might not trust newcomers to handle the job effectively. So, how can you consistently set your offerings apart from the rest?
Recently, I experimented with an approach outlined by Alex Hormozi in his book, “$100m Offers.” This approach revolves around the customer experience and has yielded promising results. I highly recommend this method, as it takes an inside-out perspective. Let me walk you through the steps I followed, using a local example.
Step 1 – Envision Dream Outcomes
Start by listing the experiences you want your ideal customers to have. Even if some of these experiences seem unattainable, record them. The goal is to capture what your customers truly desire.
Step 2 – Identify Customer Pain Points
Think about the moment a customer considers your offering. What are the hurdles and obstacles preventing them from achieving their desired outcomes? Consider issues that arise during and after using your product or service. For instance, let’s imagine you own the Krispy Kreme franchise in Jamaica. If someone has never tried your donuts, what challenges might they face?
Traffic around the store’s location is congested.
There are long lines inside.
The customer is on a diet.
They don’t like overly sweet food.
They had a bad experience with a competitor’s product.
This is just a starting point. Keep going until you’ve identified at least a hundred pain points for your offering. The more you list, the deeper you’ll delve into the customer experience, leading to more valuable insights than traditional surveys.
Step 3 – Propose Solutions for Each Problem
Address each pain point with a solution, expressed in the form of a “How to…” statement. For example, “I am on a diet” could be solved with “How to enjoy our product while sticking to your diet.”
But don’t stop there. Be thorough.
Step 4 – Design Strategies to Implement Solutions
Let your imagination run free in this step. Create offers, or “vehicles,” that correspond to each “How to…” solution from the previous step. Give these vehicles catchy, descriptive names that would grab your customer’s attention. Be comprehensive and include even those you may not intend to provide.
For example, considering the solution “How to enjoy our product while on a diet,” what could you name the corresponding vehicles to attract customers?
The 47-Calorie Donut Hole
The Perfect Donut for a Dieter’s Cheat Day (Help dieters plan effective cheat days with this brand.)
Free Traffic Morsels (Offer complimentary pastries for people stuck in traffic.)
The Unsweet Spicy Donut (Appealing to dieters who prefer savory over sweet.)
This list took me just 10 minutes to create. You don’t need to be exceptionally creative; following this structured process can help you brainstorm at an impressive pace.
Step 5 – Evaluate and Prioritize Solutions
Assign two measures to each vehicle: its value to the customer and the cost to your business to offer it. Use these measures to rank your offers and establish a timeline for implementation.
In conclusion, these lists can jumpstart your innovation. Thanks to Alex Hormozi, these lightweight forms of R&D leverage the everyday experiences you’re already gathering.
This article appeared in an earlier form as a Jamaica Gleaner column.
You have read the “Problem with the SDG Goals” article written on this website, and picked up on the idea that having too many over-the-top Big Hairy Audacious Goals (BHAGs) creates issues. (SDG stands for Sustainable Development Goals.) In other words, a vision intended to inspire people can do the very opposite, even with the best of intentions.
As a dedicated board member, you actively contribute to meetings and aim to make a meaningful impact. However, there are moments when you find yourself quietly frustrated, wondering if the discussion has veered into the minutiae, and then even further into micro-details. Why does this happen?
While the topics at hand may be interesting, you understand that such operational details are better left to middle managers who specialize in these functions. The board’s role should be holding these managers accountable, not getting lost in the weeds.
After an hour or two of discussion, you may find that little progress has been made. This can leave you shaking your head in disbelief, thinking that there are more productive uses of your time.
So, how can you address this issue before your frustration reaches a breaking point?
Focus on What Truly Matters
Board members have limited time, often juggling other important responsibilities. Therefore, it’s crucial to engage in high-leverage discussions. Your participation should be reserved for tackling the most challenging and intractable problems. If discussions jump around with random advice, it’s a sign that something needs to change.
It’s important to note that your fellow board members are well-intentioned, smart, and experienced. They can provide valuable insights on various topics. However, the aim should be to make significant decisions during board meetings, not to offer scattered tips.
Encourage Decisive Actions
Some board members believe that major decisions only come into play during unexpected emergencies. While these situations demand immediate attention, boards can also proactively influence decision-making.
One effective approach is to require your executives to develop long-term plans. Short-term plans tend to be incremental, as discussed in my May 2022 column, “Five-Year Plans Aren’t Strategic. They’re Dangerous.”
For inspiration, consider Kennedy’s lunar challenge in 1961. This ambitious goal led to the creation of the Apollo program and spurred innovations in various fields. To foster big decisions, challenge your CEO or MD to articulate a bold, long-term vision for the organization.
Few top executives have been trained in this kind of thinking. Some offer vague visions with no concrete plans, while others attempt to rebrand five-year plans as “long-term.” As a discerning board member, you should seek game-changing commitments that transform industries and elevate your company’s performance.
Engage the Best Minds
While board members may be eager to make significant decisions, many C-Suite executives might not be ready for such audacious goals. They are often promoted based on their ability to deliver short-term results.
You can encourage a shift in mindset by introducing the concept of “big, hairy, audacious goals” (BHAGs) with long-term horizons. While this may seem unconventional and risky to some, it’s the right approach. As a board member, your role is to challenge assumptions, ensure the credibility of plans, and evaluate end-game scenarios.
Your collective expertise can add rigor to the management team’s plans and elevate the quality of discussions. Over time, this focused process can lead to game-changing outcomes, making board meetings inspiring and far less frustrating.
This article was inspired by an earlier version published as a column in the Jamaica Gleaner.
As a dedicated board member, you actively contribute to meetings and aim to make a meaningful impact. However, there are moments when you find yourself quietly frustrated, wondering if the discussion has veered into the minutiae, and then even further into micro-details. Why does this happen?
While the topics at hand may be interesting, you understand that such operational details are better left to middle managers who specialize in these functions. The board’s role should be holding these managers accountable, not getting lost in the weeds.
After an hour or two of discussion, you may find that little progress has been made. This can leave you shaking your head in disbelief, thinking that there are more productive uses of your time.
So, how can you address this issue before your frustration reaches a breaking point?
Focus on What Truly Matters
Board members have limited time, often juggling other important responsibilities. Therefore, it’s crucial to engage in high-leverage discussions. Your participation should be reserved for tackling the most challenging and intractable problems. If discussions jump around with random advice, it’s a sign that something needs to change.
It’s important to note that your fellow board members are well-intentioned, smart, and experienced. They can provide valuable insights on various topics. However, the aim should be to make significant decisions during board meetings, not to offer scattered tips.
Encourage Decisive Actions
Some board members believe that major decisions only come into play during unexpected emergencies. While these situations demand immediate attention, boards can also proactively influence decision-making.
One effective approach is to require your executives to develop long-term plans. Short-term plans tend to be incremental, as discussed in my May 2022 column, “Five-Year Plans Aren’t Strategic. They’re Dangerous.”
For inspiration, consider Kennedy’s lunar challenge in 1961. This ambitious goal led to the creation of the Apollo program and spurred innovations in various fields. To foster big decisions, challenge your CEO or MD to articulate a bold, long-term vision for the organization.
Few top executives have been trained in this kind of thinking. Some offer vague visions with no concrete plans, while others attempt to rebrand five-year plans as “long-term.” As a discerning board member, you should seek game-changing commitments that transform industries and elevate your company’s performance.
Engage the Best Minds
While board members may be eager to make significant decisions, many C-Suite executives might not be ready for such audacious goals. They are often promoted based on their ability to deliver short-term results.
You can encourage a shift in mindset by introducing the concept of “big, hairy, audacious goals” (BHAGs) with long-term horizons. While this may seem unconventional and risky to some, it’s the right approach. As a board member, your role is to challenge assumptions, ensure the credibility of plans, and evaluate end-game scenarios.
Your collective expertise can add rigor to the management team’s plans and elevate the quality of discussions. Over time, this focused process can lead to game-changing outcomes, making board meetings inspiring and far less frustrating.
In the ever-evolving landscape of business, some voices argue that the concept of strategy is becoming obsolete, overshadowed by the rapid pace of change. Yet, beneath this assertion lies a reluctance to engage in deep, thoughtful planning—a sentiment that betrays a certain intellectual inertia. How can we reshape this perspective, sparking a transformation in those who seem trapped within it?
Imagine participating in a 5k race. At the starting gunshot, you witness young runners dashing forth with an incredible burst of speed. A mile or two later, however, you find them struggling, on the brink of exhaustion, while you maintain a steady jog, passing them by. They fell into a common trap: assuming a long-distance race can be conquered by a series of short sprints.
The truth is, successful long-distance running requires a series of well-informed decisions. Every step carries consequences, and a misstep can lead to failure.
This analogy seamlessly mirrors the distinction between tactical maneuvers and strategic planning in an organizational context. To prevent confusion, businesses must delineate these concepts clearly.
Distinguishing Between Short-Term Tactics and Long-Term Strategy
Modern tendencies have led to the casual labeling of everything as “strategic,” a practice that dilutes its significance. Consider the phrase “strategic goals for the week.” Yet, placing a fancy veneer on a shrub won’t yield a salad.
Challenge this tendency, as I did in a Gleaner column on January 23, 2022, titled “Why Short-Term Strategy is a Misnomer.” I explored the incongruity of coupling these two words. The essence: tactics span a few years, while strategies encompass a much longer horizon. In this article, let’s assume the cutoff point to be five years.
With this test at hand, a stark truth emerges: most companies lack written strategic plans.
Yet, both tactics and strategies remain essential in a thriving organization. However, their demarcation extends beyond time frames. They stand as separate disciplines, and interchanging them can lead to an unsustainable sprint, endangering the future. To avert this, let’s scrutinize their individual roles.
Strategies: The Architects of Transformation
The concept of BHAGs—Big Hairy Audacious Goals—commands attention. Defined by visionaries Jim Collins and Jerry Porras, these goals entail transformative results, forming a roadmap for a company’s metamorphosis. The Sustainable Development Goals set by the UN for 2030 in 2015, and Jamaica’s Vision 2030, forged in 2007, stand as prominent examples. Echoing through history is President Kennedy’s 1961 moonshot declaration, propelling humanity to the lunar surface within a decade.
Strategic plans are purposely designed to realize such audacious visions. But modernity demands them to be credible in new ways. Why?
An attainable plan provides a solid foundation, a platform of trust that validates visionary aspirations. In a world numbed by the barrage of daily promises from advertisers, credibility is paramount. Mere proclamations hold no sway; substance is demanded.
Additionally, the translation of grand plans into immediate actions is pivotal. This is where tactics come into play.
Tactics: The Craftsmen of Incremental Change
Execution of any long-term commitment mandates swift short-term actions. These actions exist independently from ingrained habits and routine, daily processes.
Realizing BHAGs necessitates altering these operational elements. These micro-transformations constitute tactics, to be executed by your team.
However, this is easier said than done. Overcoming inertia to scale these long-term commitments is a formidable task.
Case in point: If a company is perpetually reactive, progress is hard to sustain over years.
Similarly, if an organization’s status quo has endured for eons, kindling enthusiasm for BHAGs seems to be an impossible pursuit.
The crux is that achieving long-term aspirations hinges on tactical modifications, demanding adept change management.
While strategies and tactics are distinct, they must remain united without being confused. This unity is the compass guiding an organization toward its envisioned future.
In summary, the narrative of a road race underscores the vital distinction between strategic vision and tactical maneuvers. By untangling these concepts and skillfully blending them, organizations can chart a course toward their ultimate goals. As you reflect on your organization’s journey, remember, it’s not about doing either the sprint or the jog—it’s about the seamless, synchronized dance between the two that propels you forward.
You are a Caribbean HR Professional who has noticed the respect finance professionals receive in the C-Suite. What they say seems to matter.
As a result, your colleagues in the finance department can see a clear path for themselves to the C-Suite. From accounting analyst, to manager, to director, to CFO, to CEO/MD.
But the same isn’t true for you. In fact, the total number of HR managers to gain a promotion to the CEO level in anything other than a small company is negligible.
By contrast, a recent survey showed that some 52% of UK CEOs have finance backgrounds. But this wasn’t always the case.
Back in the 1980’s accountants were just not that important in companies. They were merely the bookkeepers.
However, they undertook a deliberate effort to upgrade their profession. Using technology and analytics, their value increased as their contribution became essential. New regulatory requirements didn’t hurt.
In other words, they undertook a reset.
What would it take the HR Profession in the Caribbean to do the same?
Fortunately, it already has a business partner. According to research, most CEOs want more from HR Departments. But when surveyed, they only complain “HR is not being strategic enough.”
But what can you do with that vague level of feedback? Here are some specifics gleaned, in part, from my experience hosting the CaribHRForum community and also from leading executive team retreats for two decades.
Evidence-Based Diagnosis
Data is a common element in all great strategic plans. Fortunately, this aligns with most HR Professionals who also would like to use more than anecdotes. The importance of data is something that they now recognise. But, it’s not enough.
I have seen a pattern that repeats itself in over 50 strategic planning retreats. HR presentations are seldom based on analytics and data. Why?
It’s a fact: many HR jobs below the C-Suite don’t need these skills. The result? Before joining the executive ranks, HR professionals have had little practice.
As such, a significant gap may become apparent when they are promoted. Other departments are now competing for the same resources and attention. The counterparts have already been using evidence-based and analytical language to gain approval from top-level executives.
By contrast, CHROs struggle. A vicious cycle can even occur when they request better software but are repeatedly denied. Why? They can’t make the case for a positive ROI…because they lack the data the missing tools would provide.
Unfortunately, CEOs are not likely to identify this problem independently. Like Finance before it, HR must establish a strong business case for a major reset to stop the vicious cycle.
Transformational Innovations
But these analytic capabilities are just the beginning. The Caribbean experiences a significant loss of productivity due to invisible friction. HR has an opportunity here.
For example, workers who struggle to predict their commutes accurately are prone to showing up late. If their on-time presence is required to start work, then the cost of being tardy is high.
The conventional HR approach would be to conduct interviews with employees and encourage them to leave for work earlier. But a department focused on analysis would recommend investing in a minibus exclusively for employees.
HR should keep their focus despite the possibility of objections that the move encourages laziness. Why? The actual inquiry is whether the expense is a worthy investment, based on a clear cost-benefit analysis.
HR needs to take a proactive stance as shown in this example, which is the approach CEOs want. It’s a fact that most departments have people-problems that they can’t solve alone. They require the help of HR professionals with advanced skills and predictive data.
The way the company operates can be changed by these interventions. The crucial point is that they anticipate the needs of the executive team like CFOs are expected to do.
People Predictions
HR can begin planning the organisation’s strategic future once practical measures and data are in place. For example, the Caribbean has a demographic problem looming. Our current population is not being replaced due to insufficient childbirths.
Most HR professionals are unaware of this fact. Does it matter?
Yes – the trend points towards a future with more competition for talent. This has the potential to cause wage inflation. Or a decrease in migration from the region. Or more migrants from other countries. To say it another way, there’s a potential strategic threat forming.
This fact was mentioned during a recent long-term strategic planning session. But not by HR.
However, as an HR Professional, it’s important to track these types of predictions and impacts. In fact, you could function like a CFO, but for everything regarding people.
Your company will find you indispensable if you acquire these skills. However, you will also have the opportunity to experience the gratification that comes with conquering a difficult challenge in your journey towards becoming a highly respected professional. Or even a member of the C-Suite.
This article was based on a Jamaica Gleaner column published on 8/20/2023.
You have heard of CSRD (the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive), at least in passing. As a new reporting requirement, it calls for your company to submit annual non-financial information, starting in just a few years’ time.
As someone who cares about long-term environmental and social impacts, you like where this is going.
But you are concerned that it will turn into a bureaucratic slog, in which laudable goals are lost in a tsunami of reporting requirements. Far from inspiring staff to do the right thing, you imagine it becoming a war of attrition between staff and some faceless regulators.
After all, you have seen this happen before. So, you have every right to expect that the same thing will happen again.
In this article, we’ll look at concrete ways for your firm to benefit from CSRD and its impact on strategy. There are many early actions to take to prepare, but they have something in common. They all rely on your understanding of the intent behind the framers of the standard – The European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG).
In this article I’ll suggest the standard is a “nudge” in a positive direction which can empower your leadership team, strategic planning staff and all stakeholders.
The article is available as a written newsletter on the JumpLeap Newsletter.
You have heard of CSRD (the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive), at least in passing. As a new reporting requirement, it calls for your company to submit annual non-financial information, starting in just a few years’ time.
As someone who cares about long-term environmental and social impacts, you like where this is going.
But you are concerned that it will turn into a bureaucratic slog, in which laudable goals are lost in a tsunami of reporting requirements. Far from inspiring staff to do the right thing, you imagine it becoming a war of attrition between staff and some faceless regulators.
This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit longtermstrategy.substack.com/subscribe
The world is changing fast, and “winning” in business may already be a fool’s errand.
You are a company leader who has risen through the ranks. You enjoy the competitive side of running an organization. Why? There are obvious winners and losers defined by a P&L scorecard. Plus, you have tactics and strategies to choose from. And finally, you can see a clear correlation between your efforts and results.
But what if the changes taking place in the world are making a mockery of the race you are mentally contesting? Keep reading if you want to stay ahead.
Why You Are Like Usain Bolt
The 100m dash is undoubtedly one of the purest forms of gamified athletics ever witnessed.
But before the Olympics were invented, people just ran. There were no medals,
or clocks, or heats, sponsorships, television appearances, etc. Over time, these elements were added in and made this human invention appear real.
Is the game of business also fabricated? If you are a CEO, you are probably immersed in it, without question. Let’s take a step back, and outside of it, for a moment. Maybe we can discern its outline and see some shortfalls.
Ask yourself the following: Who are you competing against? Who are the winners? The losers? The middle-of-the-packers?
What do you use to measure the score? How long is the timeframe? When do you feel pangs of jealousy as opponents pass you by? Do you enjoy the intellectual, social and emotional challenges?
Notice your reaction and write them down. You might become a bit nervous as you draw this picture. Why? Because you may uncover the motivation behind your accomplishments and believe that too much insight is bad.
These feelings are natural. Most hard-driving, over-achieving, Type-A’s who tend to lead organizations don’t spend time reflecting on their competitive nature. It’s taken as a given.
Here, I speak from experience. When I finally came first in my class at Wolmers after five years of effort, I saw myself as the winner…the one who crossed the line ahead of others when it counted the most. I didn’t question it for a moment, even though I gave up playing Sunlight Cup cricket for a year to achieve the goal. Today, I wouldn’t.
Why You Are Not Usain Bolt
But the truth is that business is not an actual game. While this mental construct can be energizing, there are definite limits to seeing it this way.
Just ask Amazon.com. Reports have emerged that Jeff Bezos’ empire is about to be dismantled by the FTC. Why? Apparently, they have determined that the company is taking its winnings from one area and using it in another. Unfairly.
Consequently, the US Government may use antitrust laws to redefine the game Bezos has been playing. Remember, they did just that to Microsoft and AT&T, among others.
If you have a strong competitive streak, it could be time to step away to re-imagine the game you have been unconsciously and unwittingly engaged in. Here are some strategic reasons to revisit this construct now.
Reason #1 – You Become Blind
When a fresh substitute enters your environment but doesn’t look like a competitor, you miss seeing them. C&W dismissed the arrival of Digicel because the new entrant was playing a different game top leaders didn’t recognize.
Reason #2 – You Become Short-Sighted
If you study your current competitors too closely, you end up following their every move. And stop being creative.
Reason #3 – You Live in Short-Termism and Endanger the Planet
Your imaginary game is probably more of a sprint than a marathon. If so, long-term planning may be repeatedly delayed.
As such, Europe’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) requires companies to pay attention to their carbon footprint. Indirectly, they are pulling organizations into their Green Deal objective of climate neutrality by 2050.
This move implies that corporations have been playing winner-take-all games for decades, which now endanger our well-being.
As you enter this new game (by choice or by necessity), you may find that it’s not the zero-sum contests you have been enjoying. Instead, you’ll be joining companies which are focused on the triple P bottom-line – Profits, Planet and People.
Unfortunately, this is not the kind of “competitive strategy” taught in business schools. By contrast, it’s more a function of high-quality collaboration and cooperative outcomes.
In this context, it may look foolish to persist in the old game of massive profits or personal wealth. On a globe threatened by global warming, who cares?
Fortunately, you can “re-gamify” yourself and go in a different direction. You could still “win”, but so could everyone else in the entire world.
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