Advances in Strategy Development for the 21st Century |
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Page 7 of 11
Strategic Planning in the 21st Century
“…where you stand depends on where you sit…”
Anon
Decide what you believe is required
Although TMG regards change and complexity
as accepted “norms” in the 21st Century, managers must still decide
what type and tools of strategy planning they believe productive and how that
type of planning can be executed. It is
the balance of old thinking and new thinking that must be struck – and in
striking that balance, every organization must plot its own path. Whatever that path, the business will remain
‘purposefully opportunistic’.
It means recognizing that reality draws
from both ends of the spectrum shown below.
Figure 2 The Philosophical Continuum
Influencing each of us is a set of beliefs
about how the world works. Simplistically, each of us has a set of beliefs that tend to congregate
in an area along a continuum although we occasionally do stuff wholly out of
character.
How is this relevant to strategy
development in the 21st Century?
The tool box referred to earlier contains
tools premised on beliefs in different places along the continuum. Porter’s Five Forces lives to the left. Organizational Learning lives to the
right. M&As reside largely on the
left. Organic growth draws more from the
right.
To be a strategist of the 21st
Century, you need to embrace the whole continuum. Neither end is right or wrong of course. Just a different view of the world. And the view of the world becomes much more
clear, despite change and complexity, if the strategist can accept the view of
the whole, and not the preferred resonating parts of what might be called a
“comfort zone”.
Armed with this different outlook, strategy
and those charged with developing it, can look more confidently to the future.
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