A new chapter in strategy work begins
The conventional ideas of strategy have remained unchanged for decades. Google provides definitions such as “precise plan” or “achieving the goal by taking all factors into account from the outset”. But does that still reflect reality?
In a world that has become digital, diverse, fast and fluid, our traditional understanding of strategy seems like a relic from the 19th and 20th centuries. We need a new way of thinking about strategy work – and how it is communicated.
Flexibility instead of rigid plans
Strategy is often seen as a discipline of forward-looking planning. As a kind of blueprint that is thought through in every detail, considering all eventualities – and only then implemented. This approach can hardly keep up with today's demands.
Many management presentations reflect this thinking: numbers, diagrams, curves – meticulously prepared, but often far removed from the people who ultimately have to implement the strategy. The question is: do stakeholders such as managers, employees, customers and business partners feel addressed by these strategy papers? Or do they only appeal to those who have to approve the plans?
Strategies for the people who implement them
So why not involve those who are supposed to put the strategy into action from the very beginning? Stakeholder analyses, maps and insights provide valuable information about the needs and expectations of different groups – and what kind of communication facilitates acceptance and implementation.
Even more important, however, is the realization that digitalization and AI can make the strategic process so flexible and dynamic that rigid master plans with fixed parameters are no longer up to date. The idea that all factors can be planned from the outset is becoming less important.
The most important constant: the stakeholders
In a constantly changing environment, one thing remains unchanged: the people who are affected by the strategy and are supposed to support it. One piece of advice from successful business leaders used to be: you shouldn‘t lose the team. In fast-paced, complex and unstable business environments, you should go further and say: you always have to be with the team – personally, in terms of content, mentally and in terms of communication.
