.
"The Truth About Strategy"
.
"However, once the project started, I would find that strategy was the least of their problems. Lousy products, nasty people and inherently poor management were at the crux of the issue. Successful companies, on the other hand, excel at those things. Nevertheless, it is strategy that tends to get the credit or blame. It’s time to tell the truth about strategy. (Moi ici: IMHO "Lousy products, nasty people and inherently poor management" são os frutos de uma estratégia incorrecta ou de uma ausência de estratégia)
...
What is Strategy?
A coherent and substantiated logic for making one set of choices rather than another. (Moi ici: O que o autor entende por estratégia: estratégia como um conjunto de escolhas. Acrescento, escolhas difíceis, escolhas que custam, escolham que obrigam a cortar as pontes para outras opções também interessantes. Contudo, sem corte, nunca se irá longe)
.
The primary function of strategy is to frame issues for action, so it must be coherent, in that it doesn’t contradict itself and substantiated, meaning that it’s consistent with the facts. Both of those things are much harder than they sound. (Moi ici: O mosaico de actividades, de cultura, que se auto-reforça e se torna fundamental para o sucesso)
.
There Is No “Right” Strategy
While good strategy is rare indeed, it should be clear that it is necessary, but not sufficient for sustainable competitive advantage. (Moi ici: A paisagem competitiva, o meio abiótico, está em permanente movimento. Por isso, aquilo que era verdade, aquilo que era útil, aquilo que era vantajoso, deixa de o ser... e não adianta gritar: "Quero o meu queijo!!! Tenho o direito adquirido a ele!!! Nem são únicas nem são eternas, basta recordar Lindgren)
...
Look at any category and you’ll find firms with polar opposite strategies who do great and a number of competitors with very similar strategies who spew red ink. Obviously, there’s much more to profitability than strategy.
.
The primary function of strategy is to frame issues for action, so it must be coherent, in that it doesn’t contradict itself and substantiated, meaning that it’s consistent with the facts. Both of those things are much harder than they sound. (Moi ici: O mosaico de actividades, de cultura, que se auto-reforça e se torna fundamental para o sucesso)
.
There Is No “Right” Strategy
While good strategy is rare indeed, it should be clear that it is necessary, but not sufficient for sustainable competitive advantage. (Moi ici: A paisagem competitiva, o meio abiótico, está em permanente movimento. Por isso, aquilo que era verdade, aquilo que era útil, aquilo que era vantajoso, deixa de o ser... e não adianta gritar: "Quero o meu queijo!!! Tenho o direito adquirido a ele!!! Nem são únicas nem são eternas, basta recordar Lindgren)
...
Look at any category and you’ll find firms with polar opposite strategies who do great and a number of competitors with very similar strategies who spew red ink. Obviously, there’s much more to profitability than strategy.
.
Strategy Is Not Static, It Lives and Breathes...
Strategy encounters similar pitfalls when it is formulated by lone geniuses, working quietly behind closed doors and, presumably, screaming “eureka!” when divine inspiration leads them to a key strategic insight. Or worse, by outside consultants who hog up some conference rooms for a few months and then leave behind weighty documents and confusing white papers.
Good strategy is not static, but dynamic. It must evolve and, as Tim Harford explains in his wonderful book Adapt, that means that it must be sensitive to feedback from the system in which it has to thrive. It can’t be insular, it must interact, be questioned, embellished, augmented and sometimes thrown away.
.
Strategy encounters similar pitfalls when it is formulated by lone geniuses, working quietly behind closed doors and, presumably, screaming “eureka!” when divine inspiration leads them to a key strategic insight. Or worse, by outside consultants who hog up some conference rooms for a few months and then leave behind weighty documents and confusing white papers.
Good strategy is not static, but dynamic. It must evolve and, as Tim Harford explains in his wonderful book Adapt, that means that it must be sensitive to feedback from the system in which it has to thrive. It can’t be insular, it must interact, be questioned, embellished, augmented and sometimes thrown away.
.
Strategy Is Fractal and Imbued with Purpose.
One thing you’ll notice at a successful company is that strategy looks the same at every level. From the lowest level employee to the most senior executive, people are on the same page and their actions reflect it. (Moi ici: O alinhamento, a importância do alinhamento das pessoas, das decisões, da cultura. As relações de causa-efeito de 2º e 3º nível. Os jogadores profissionais de bilhar)
...
A company with a purpose won’t get thrown off course by a bad quarter, a disparaging article in the business press or by a difficult client. It will stay the course because it has a mission that is important. Moreover, it won’t be afraid to adapt its tactics because it will understand that those are merely a means to an end, not the end in itself.
.
One thing you’ll notice at a successful company is that strategy looks the same at every level. From the lowest level employee to the most senior executive, people are on the same page and their actions reflect it. (Moi ici: O alinhamento, a importância do alinhamento das pessoas, das decisões, da cultura. As relações de causa-efeito de 2º e 3º nível. Os jogadores profissionais de bilhar)
...
A company with a purpose won’t get thrown off course by a bad quarter, a disparaging article in the business press or by a difficult client. It will stay the course because it has a mission that is important. Moreover, it won’t be afraid to adapt its tactics because it will understand that those are merely a means to an end, not the end in itself.
.
Strategy is Emergent
Nobody gets their strategy right from the beginning. Look at any blindingly fantastic success – Southwest, Google, Wal-Mart – and you’ll find fumbles and failures, (and often pretty dumb ones). Interestingly, the great strategies that catapulted those companies to dominance often seem more accidental than the products of brilliance inspiration.
That is because truly great strategy is not, as some would have us believe, the product of wise men on mountains, descending intermittently, as Nietzsche’s Zarathrustra, to proclaim great truths. It is emergent, the product of experience, trial and error, and luck (both good and bad). In other words, not a priori essense, but a posteriori lessons learned well. (Moi ici: Quem aposta na batota sabe a importância de escutar, de ser humilde. O mundo é demasiado complicado para confiarmos o futuro a top-down. Bottom-up rules!!!)
In other words, strategy is not a starting point, it’s a process and a collaborative one at that. It is not written in stone, nor is it ever truly complete. It evolves over time, becomes stronger as it adapts to new challenges even as it remains true to its core principles.
Good strategy is never being, it is always becoming. (Moi ici: Domingo, assisti a um jogo de andebol. Duas equipas iniciaram o jogo de forma equilibrada, até aos 11-11 a liderança no marcador foi alternando. A partir daqui, a equipa visitante começou a caminhada imperial para uma vitória por 20-35. Ao assistir ao jogo, sem ser capaz de abandonar as minhas paranóias, comecei a pensar que estava a assistir ao triunfo de uma estratégia emergente. Ambas as equipas foram testando estratégias, uma chegou mais depressa que a outra a uma estratégia vantajosa e depois foi lucrar com isso.
.
BTW, durante o jogo, recordei a velha raposa, Trapattoni. Num jogo em que se está a perder, em que não se encontra estratégia para ganhar, não adianta querer acelerar o jogo, porque só aumenta o número de golos da equipa adversária. Trapattoni disse uma vez "Quando se percebe que não se pode ganhar um jogo, joga-se para não se perder o jogo")
Nobody gets their strategy right from the beginning. Look at any blindingly fantastic success – Southwest, Google, Wal-Mart – and you’ll find fumbles and failures, (and often pretty dumb ones). Interestingly, the great strategies that catapulted those companies to dominance often seem more accidental than the products of brilliance inspiration.
That is because truly great strategy is not, as some would have us believe, the product of wise men on mountains, descending intermittently, as Nietzsche’s Zarathrustra, to proclaim great truths. It is emergent, the product of experience, trial and error, and luck (both good and bad). In other words, not a priori essense, but a posteriori lessons learned well. (Moi ici: Quem aposta na batota sabe a importância de escutar, de ser humilde. O mundo é demasiado complicado para confiarmos o futuro a top-down. Bottom-up rules!!!)
In other words, strategy is not a starting point, it’s a process and a collaborative one at that. It is not written in stone, nor is it ever truly complete. It evolves over time, becomes stronger as it adapts to new challenges even as it remains true to its core principles.
Good strategy is never being, it is always becoming. (Moi ici: Domingo, assisti a um jogo de andebol. Duas equipas iniciaram o jogo de forma equilibrada, até aos 11-11 a liderança no marcador foi alternando. A partir daqui, a equipa visitante começou a caminhada imperial para uma vitória por 20-35. Ao assistir ao jogo, sem ser capaz de abandonar as minhas paranóias, comecei a pensar que estava a assistir ao triunfo de uma estratégia emergente. Ambas as equipas foram testando estratégias, uma chegou mais depressa que a outra a uma estratégia vantajosa e depois foi lucrar com isso.
.
BTW, durante o jogo, recordei a velha raposa, Trapattoni. Num jogo em que se está a perder, em que não se encontra estratégia para ganhar, não adianta querer acelerar o jogo, porque só aumenta o número de golos da equipa adversária. Trapattoni disse uma vez "Quando se percebe que não se pode ganhar um jogo, joga-se para não se perder o jogo")
Sem comentários:
Enviar um comentário