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Turning boardroom strategy into frontline creativity
It’s easy to think that cracking a bold vision for an organisation or brand will lead to success. The answer is not to neglect vision, but to adopt a process that connects vision with execution.
Rob Gray
Co-founder & Strategy Partner SquadIt’s easy to think that cracking a bold vision for an organisation or brand will lead to success. We’ve frequently experienced the euphoria among a leadership team that follows the agreement of such things, often at the end of an awayday following months of deliberations.
The problem is that a vision, as the word suggests, is only a concept for the future. The hard part is turning it into reality. This can be overlooked and is often more challenging than agreeing the vision.
One of the biggest challenges for many organisations is their size. The leaders are often not the ones making the implementation decisions. Vision and execution are separated, often by multiple layers of management. Faced with such challenges, it’s easy for organisations to lose faith in the role of a vision.
Sometimes this can lead to organisations neglecting its importance and focusing just on execution. Yet a vision is crucial. Jim Collins, in his study of companies, Good to Great, observed: “That extra dimension [of great companies] is a guiding philosophy or a ‘core ideology’.” The answer is not to neglect vision, but to adopt a process that connects vision with execution.
KEY TAKE OUTS
- Guide don’t prescribe. Setting strategy is inherently about making choices between available options. It’s the art of sacrifice. But this does not necessitate being prescriptive about how a direction is pursued. The crux of effective strategy is defining the way in which the organisation will achieve its goals.
- Mobilise people. The communication of a strategy is no different to any other form of communication where an audience needs to be mobilised. As Antoine de Saint-Exupéry once wrote: “If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up people to collect wood and don’t assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea.”
- Make strategy continuous. The problem with many strategy processes is that they stop just when they should be starting. Once the desired transformation has been agreed and communicated, people view the process as complete. But the learnings that come out of the implementation process are crucial. Feedback loops must be incorporated. A doctor can only prescribe the correct treatment if they have first diagnosed the right ailment. The original strategic direction will be based on a diagnosis. The reaction that comes back helps to build a clearer picture, which may suggest a change in the diagnosis and a shift in the direction.
TURNING BOARDROOM STRATEGY INTO FRONTLINE CREATIVITY
Visit Squad's showcase to read the full report.
CONTACT
Rob Gray, Co-Founder & Strategy Partner, Squad, [email protected]
About
Rob pursued an early interest in design before becoming a strategist at TBWA. His affinity for both business and creativity led him to co-found Squad, a business consultancy meets creative agency. Over the last ten years Squad’s clients have included Brother, Environment Agency, Eurocamp, Halewood International, Hansgrohe, Information Commissioner’s Office, JW Lees, ZSL London Zoo, Office of Fair Trading, PZ Cussons, Sanger Institute, Tebay Services and Umbro. Rob writes frequently for the marketing press and delivers keynote addresses, workshops and talks for a range of events.
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