Building a consistent and adaptive strategy
How to develop a strategy which can evolve with the context, without completely giving up on strategic planning as a means to create consistency?
The concept of adaptive strategy is currently in vogue. While strategic planning was long considered an absolute necessity for any company of a certain standing, many now believe that the most effective strategies can only emerge from front-line employees in close contact with the field.
A clear grasp of market reality is indeed an undeniable strength in building strategy. Yet, seeing strategy merely as a set of responses to changing environmental conditions would be foolhardy. Indeed, strategy must also serve as a guide to ensure the alignment of multiple initiatives taken by the different parts of an organization over a period of time.
The point, then, is not to choose between emergent strategy and formal strategic planning, but rather to find the right balance between these two approaches in order to capitalize upon their respective advantages.
The sources we have selected give advice on how to accomplish this, including several particularly important recommendations:
– Set clear objectives, but give people freedom in choosing how to attain them.
– Define and develop your strategy using a participative process that is sufficiently structured to ensure consistent results.
– Establish a system for receiving regular feedback from the field.
– Make continuous change an integral part of the organizational mindset.
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