Strategising for agility

In a quickly changing world, organisations must do two things:

they need to understand and follow the ways of operating
that they have long used, are comfortable with and have
proved successful; and they need to be able to react to their
environments and unexpected circumstances in the most
effective ways. Leaders have a major role to play in making their
organisations more agile.

The 2 key components of a robust strategy

A robust strategy consists of a stable identity that clearly defines “who we are” and aligns actions through
changeable short-term intents. These two components are interdependent but distinguishing between them
offers greater strategising potential, as knowing the boundaries of identity actually provides more freedom
for strategic intent.

Identity
An organisation’s identity is the shared institutional knowledge of who we are, what we do and how we do it.
It draws on a company’s culture, history, brand promise and reputation to create a personality or organisational
character. It helps to give work meaning. It describes the unique attributes and capabilities that have helped the
organisation be successful in the past and that are still relevant today.

Strategic intent
Strategic intent answers the questions “How are we going to make money today?” and “What is the business
model for our success?” Strategic intent is a flexible, momentary strategic advantage that describes a way to win
in the marketplace. It’s the way companies position themselves for success in a business market. Unlike identity,
strategic intent can change pretty quickly.
Strategic intent has 3 dimensions:
• Differentiation: the product and service features that motivate customers to choose the company over its
competitors (e.g., prices, quality standards, the services accompanying products and the value perceived by
the customers)
• Breadth: the size, reach and complexity of the strategy (e.g., the range of products and services offered, the
number of markets served and the range of technologies applied)
• Aggressiveness: speed, frequency and tolerance for risk (e.g., intensity of marketing campaigns, technology
investments, speed to market and pricing)

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The roles of leaders in agility
For leaders to fulfill their strategising roles (developing strategy, managing its execution and establishing purpose),
they need to develop and maintain a few routine practices that will make the organisation more agile.

Reaching out
Organisations should encourage deep, broad and continuous communication – top to bottom, middle to middle,
bottom up and outside in – to ensure continuous contact with the external environment. This helps to ensure
that information is being integrated.

Being accountable
Every stakeholder to the strategy should be ready to be held accountable for its success at any time.
This element is essential to ensure the integration of new information from the field for possible adjustments
to strategic intent.

Participating
The strategy development process should be highly participative so that the strategy incorporates diverse
perceptions and so that people are more committed because they are involved.

Investing
Organisations should invest resources (time, people, material, money, etc.) in emerging strategies and new
processes.

Daring
Senior leaders are responsible for creating an organisational climate in which managers know they are expected
to encourage their staff to speak up when a strategy is not working and are ready to hear what people have to say.
People should feel free to dare to question the status quo and know that it’s safe to do so.

The contents of this page are the property of CrossKnowledge.

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Any reproduction or representation for non-private use is strictly forbidden. 2