The Non-Strategy: How Some ‘Strategies’ Are Not Strategies At All

Lack of a proper strategy is a serious problem that can result in ad hoc improvements that don't contribute to overall organizational needs, says John S. Hamalian. The trouble is many organizations think they've got a strategy when they don't. Do you recognize any of these 4 common "non-strategies"?

‘Even the best-laid plans of mice and men often go wrong’, goes the saying. That may

be true, but having some kind of plan is typically better than having none at all. Yet the

ability to properly develop, execute and sustain a solid strategic plan remains

surprisingly beyond the reach of many organizations, including the private, public and

non-profit sectors.

Without a well-structured plan an organization runs the risk of meandering through the

year, either with their heads stuck too high in the long-term clouds or mired in short-term

firefighting on the ground. In either case they will likely not meet their intended

outcomes, which need to be the result of a balanced combination of strategic, tactical

and operational plans. Lack of a proper strategy will also make it very difficult to carry

out process excellence initiatives, potentially resulting in ad hoc improvements that are

not contributing to the overall organizational needs.

The big issue here is that many of these organizations do not think they lack a plan.

They often believe they have a solid strategy in place and are driving their actions with

it. But in many cases there is a disconnect between reality and what many would

consider to be evidence of sound planning techniques. These ‘non-strategies‘, usually

fall into the following categories:

Non Strategy #1: ‘The Wall Placard Strategy’

Some organizations will go to great lengths to create wonderful Vision and Mission

statements and proudly post them all over their walls. But then their planning stops

there. While starting with a Vision and/or Mission statement is fine, those long-term

high-level goals need to then be translated into more tangible objectives and action

plans. Otherwise they will not have sufficient substance to be able to drive or align their

yearly, monthly and daily activities.

Non Strategy #2: ‘The Stratospheric Strategy’

These strategies are too high-level. They start in the clouds and never come down,

making them extremely difficult to make actionable. While going a bit beyond the

Vision/Mission statement level, they still remain too generalized in nature. This type of

strategy is marked by an intense focus on obscure long-term goals or vague bullet-point

objectives, but not much else. The result will usually be some real slick-looking verbiage

for their website and annual reports, but little direction to identify the specific actions

needed to meet their vision.

Non Strategy #3: ‘The KPI Strategy’

When asked to show their strategies, some organizations excitedly whip out a beautiful

power point slide that states their goals in terms of a metric. Examples are ‘double

revenue in three years’ or ‘achieve 20% margin by 2013’. This is not a strategy. This is

merely a high-level metric that numerically states a business goal. While barely

articulating the ‘what’, this practice completely misses the ‘how’ that is so critical to

successful attainment of the goals. Developing clear objectives and action plans would

be the way to make the desired goals and metrics achievable. Having a metric is a fine

complement to a goal and allows it to be measurable, but it does not constitute a

strategy.

Non Strategy #4: ‘The Govern-less Strategy’

Some strategies are actually quite well constructed, but they miss one crucial element:

a governance process. Many wonderful PowerPoint presentations on an organization’s

strategy end up remaining just that – a PowerPoint slide. A strategy is completely

worthless unless it has a mechanism for sustainment during the whole year, with a clear

process on who will lead the reviews, what specifically will be covered and what the

frequency will be. A governance process allows the strategy to be more than just a one-

time exercise, it literally is the life force that keeps the strategy alive and well during the

whole year.

Building a strategy may seem like a fairly easy endeavor, but as we can see above

there are many scenarios where the effectiveness of the planning can be significantly

compromised if not constructed and executed well. A solid plan does much more than

just lay out objectives; it aligns the entire team, engages them in the organizational

endeavors, provides them with a sense of purpose and gives clarity to expected

outcomes. One of the most common weaknesses of lean six sigma programs is to only

track the number of projects, training and belts, without having a sense of strong

purpose of what those projects are supposed to be contributing to. A clear strategy with

objectives and action plans can provide the fuel to ensure that improvement projects are

aligned to the vision, adding value to key priority areas and are contributing to the

bottom line.

While both mouse and man may sometimes fail in their execution, having a solid plan is

an effective way to define needs, outline expectations, align the organization and help to

cultivate a culture of long-term thinking.

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About the Author: John S. Hamalian

John has worked in Global 100 companies in the Automotive and IT

industries for more than 25 years, with assignments based in the USA,

China, Korea and Singapore, currently as Asia Regional Lead of

Business Excellence. Since working for a former Toyota manager in the

late 1990s, John has been leading Strategy and Lean execution in (15)

countries in total, mainly in Asia.

John endeavors to be a responsible global citizen. Having visited a total of (45)

countries - including the entire Far East of Asia - John is a published writer in the areas

of international travel, global commentary and Asian culture. He is an active supporter

of several non-profit organizations, including serving as Chairman of the Audit

Committee of an NGO for Migrant Workers (TWC2) and as the leader for his company’s

Singapore Community Outreach initiative.

John holds an MBA from Fordham University in New York and a Bachelor Degree in

Engineering from Kettering University in Michigan. He is an active speaker in Lean Six

Sigma Conferences as well as at universities and the Singapore Productivity

Association. He can be reached by e-mail on johnhamalian@yahoo.com.