Saturday, November 28, 2015

The Monthly Strategy Highlight of Nov. 2015

The strategy is the light to guide you ahead, not the hand to walk you through.


The “Future of CIO” Blog has reached 1.1 million page views with #2300+ blog posting in 59+ different categories of leadership, management, strategy, digitalization, change/talent, etc. The content richness is not for its own sake, but to convey the vision and share the wisdom. The strategy is the focal point of the “Future of CIO,” and the pillar of organizational existence, its design, structure, functions, vision, and mission. A real strategy is neither a document nor a forecast but rather an overall approach based on a diagnosis of a challenge. Here is the monthly strategy highlight of the “Future of CIO” blog.


The Monthly Strategy Highlight Nov., 2015
  • Mirror, Mirror, What is the Best Strategy: To trace its lexical root, a strategy derives from the Greek strategia, "office of general, command, generalship,”  the Greek equivalent for the modern word “strategy” would have been “strategike episteme” or (general’s knowledge) “strategon sophia” (general’s wisdom). One of the most famous Latin works in the area of military strategy is written by Frontius and has the Greek title of Strategemata. A strategy is a set of choices following with a series of action designed to achieve a vision and compete for the future. There’re so many good strategy theories from ancient to contemporary time, from eastern to western philosophy, today’s strategist may just wonder: what is the best strategy?


  • How to Make Strategy Work under Uncertainty: VUCA (volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity) is digital new normal, as complexity and uncertainty increasing, the connection between any single individual organization’s strategy, and their tactical plans and actions can become diluted and disconnected. How to craft a good strategy, and make strategy executable under such uncertainty and unpredictability in order to transform the business into the Digital Master?


  • Five Key Steps in Strategy Implementation: The conventional approach to strategy implementation is prescriptive or top-down, develop the strategy at the board or top management team, and then break it down into smaller chunks to align the organization with it. The pre-condition for this to work is that the external business environment is reasonably stable and slow to change. In today's digital dynamic or unstable business circumstances, the evidence points to strategy emerging rather than being prescribed. So what are key steps in strategy implementation, and how to improve execution effectiveness?


  • Strategy-Execution as an Ongoing Continuum: Strategy is about what you intend to do or accomplish in terms of managing the constraints to having the critical success factors in place to achieve the set of strategic priorities, and implementation is about how effective the strategy beyond technology achieves its defined goals. With the increasing speed of changes and continuous digital disruptions which are often caused by technologies, how frequently an organization should change its implementation plan to meet the desired strategic outcomes. Does it become difficult to secure the buy-in of stakeholders, if the implementation plans are changed too frequently? Are strategy-execution linear steps or an ongoing continuum?


  • How to Develop the Performance Measures for Strategy? The strategy will start being more and more dynamic, so the consistency and "perennial" guide of the organization will be better represented by company’s identity. Leadership, strategy, and management will build, develop and make that proposed (desired) identity. Going further, the metrics should also be immersed in a sustainable development way of thinking. However, what’s systematic thinking and which approach should you apply to develop the performance measures for your strategy?
Blogging is not about writing, but about thinking and innovating the new ideas; it’s not just about WHAT to say, but about WHY to say, and HOW to say it. It reflects the color and shade of your thought patterns, and it indicates the peaks and curves of your thinking waves. Unlike pure entertainment, quality and professional content takes time for digesting, contemplation and engaging, and therefore, it takes the time to attract the "hungry minds" and the "deep souls." It’s the journey to amplify diverse voices and deepen digital footprints, and it's the way to harness your innovative spirit.
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