SAMIR MARDOLKER gives us his take on strategy and how one can use it to discover their inner strategist.
Strategy is nothing but a strong rationale to back up the choices you make. This is my spin and I hope it serves to awaken the strategist in you.
This article explains why a strong rationale is required and how it acts as a (B)arometer to help you navigate difficult choices. More importantly, it explains how other elements are also critical to developing a good strategy.-
(A): Firstly, it is about knowing where you are i.e. being (A) ware. Awareness influences the rationale and also the goals you set.- (C): Secondly it is about believing you are in (C)ontrol of situations. Believing you are in control ensures you are bold in your goal setting and do not get overwhelmed by any limitations.- (D): Finally, the D that completes the story is (D)isruption. You have to disrupt and be ready to be disrupted.
That’s the ABCD of strategy.
Rationale serves as a (B)arometer for choice: Strategy comes to play when we have a decision or choice to make. In most situations, our thinking starts when the choice situation presents itself. We either begin to evaluate the pros/cons to make a logical decision or defer to our right brain to nudge us to make the ‘right choice’. But when we think through and land on a rationale in advance to guide our choices, we can say we have a strategy. Advance thinking ensures that we have a barometer of what we should be doing. It prevents ‘decision making under duress’.
All we have to do is to ensure such rationales remain in our conscious awareness so that we do not go off-course. Now, the more all-encompassing the rationale is, the better it will be to get you to your goal e.g. move from I will avoid cakes, to I will avoid desserts, to I will have a healthy diet. Having a rationale makes decision making easy. Others might see your decisions as a ‘sacrifice’ or not understand your choice. But if you have a strong rationale that you believe in, you know the ‘why’ of the choice you have made. Once you start making more considered choices basis your rationale, you can say you are being strategic.
Beyond rationale: The significance of the rationale becomes more obvious when we are working toward an end goal. The rationale ensures that every choice that we make nudges us in the right direction. Clearly, having a goal is also about our starting point or where we are today. Hence, our present and our envisioned future is also a part of strategy together with the core i.e. the rationale.
Being (A)ware helps direct the rationale and the goals:
Self-awareness allows you to see the tough choice with a perspective that best fits with who you are or helps breaks myths so that you see the world differently.-
The country team of a world leading payment brand shifted their rationale to take a market leadership role after appreciating they had a very ‘reactive’ appreciating they had a very ‘reactive’ mindset to Fintechs.
A printer brand managed to build rationales to stretch into services after they realized the main deterrent was their internal Research and Development (R&D) teams viewing the printer as a peripheral device (in 2012) whilst reality was it could function as a stand-alone device even in 2012.
– When the R&D team of an acidity relief brand realised they had not kept up with the pace of change in the food landscape in emerging markets, their rationales for future innovation changed.
– A bank realised that their sense of pride in their legacy was limiting customer centric thinking for the future. Understanding who you are, your myths, capabilities and mindset is the foundation to carve out a strong strategy.
Defining your goal is as much about believing you are in (C)ontrol:
We often do not realize that our belief that we are in control is an integral part of ensuring we set strong goals. This attitude of control is not to beat yourself up/hold yourself to high standards but to feel empowered and inspired in the goal setting process. Such belief allows you to see beyond the problems you may encounter or situations you think may not be in your favour and permits you to really think big.
A F&B brand found their goal setting process to be less ambitious worrying about how the goals may be operationalised.- In general, I find an overwhelming focus on IT, legal/regulatory or globally mandated protocols to be limiting in the initial goal setting process. Letting your north star being dictated by current situations, external conditions etc. will never let you punch above your weight. And if you don’t have a true north star, you might have well just have a simple plan and not worry about strategy.
ABCD in sum: This framework of self awareness, control and barometer to inspire strategic thinking should be intuitive given every choice will involve you (A – so be Aware), the path you take (B – set the right Barometer) and where you want to go (C- believe you are in Control in goal setting). Now given how fast the world is changing, you have to be ready to disrupt or be disrupted. And that’s where the D comes in! So use this ABCD framework to discover the strategist in yourself!
