{"id":3303,"date":"2014-09-16T20:32:47","date_gmt":"2014-09-16T18:32:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.strimgroup.com\/?p=3303"},"modified":"2020-07-11T08:17:39","modified_gmt":"2020-07-11T06:17:39","slug":"7-habits-great-strategists","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.strimgroup.com\/en\/blog\/7-habits-great-strategists\/","title":{"rendered":"7 habits of great strategists"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today<\/span> we<\/span> publish<\/span> a<\/span> commentary by<\/span> <\/span>Jeroen De Flander. He is an international expert on Strategy Execution \/ Performance Management & author of Strategy Execution Heroes.<\/em>
\nJeroen has come across many strategists in his career. Some were bad. Most were average. Only a few were truly incredible.
\nThe things that great strategists do on a day-to-day basis may not show up on the average radar. But for those who look carefully, they become visible.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a list of what great strategists frequently do:<\/p>\n

1. They make us care<\/strong><\/p>\n

Good strategists formulate strategy using phrases like: \u201cWe want to outperform the market and have a ROCE at least 2 percent higher than the industry average in the next 5 years.\u201d
\nAnd while this phrase might perfectly capture the company\u2019s ambition, the truth is most people just don\u2019t care.
\nGreat strategists go beyond PowerPoint presentations. They look for ways to make us care about the company strategy. They look for ways to turn an abstract idea into a concrete race that we all want to be part of. Just think about John F. Kennedy who made an entire nation care about NASA\u2019s strategy by turning aeronautics into a race every American wanted to win: \u201cI believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth.\u201d<\/p>\n

2. They keep us focused<\/strong><\/p>\n

Good strategists know that strategy success depends on our ability to stick to the choice we have made.
\nGreat strategists stand out because they dare to defend that choice and say NO. They stand out because they are willing to take an unpopular stand like sacrificing short-term results to create long-term value. They know that strategy is about choice and choosing to stick with your thinking. And, by their example, they inspire others to do the same.<\/p>\n

3. They facilitate our decision process<\/strong><\/p>\n

When employees complain about the company strategy, they say things like \u201cThe strategy is not clear\u201d, or \u201cOur organization doesn\u2019t have a strategy.\u201d But the underlying point they want to make is \u201cI don\u2019t know what I can do to help”.
\nBad strategists don\u2019t pay attention to this hidden message. If the strategy message is clear for them, they assume it\u2019s clear for everyone.
\nGreat strategists strive to get everyone onboard the strategy ship. They will provide strategy information in a language people understand. They provide prioritization guidelines to align day-to-day choices with the big choice.<\/p>\n

4. They simplify our lives<\/strong><\/p>\n

Every strategist knows that complexity creates opportunities in the outside world. Why else do you think there are a million different subscription options for your mobile?
\nGreat strategists also know that copying this complexity on the inside will make life for everyone a living hell. They know that you don\u2019t need a different department for each client segment you approach in the market. They know that internal complexity is the biggest performance killer\u2014as Chris Zook and James Allen from Bain & Company point out in their book Repeatability after extensive research with 1000+ organizations.<\/p>\n

5. They tell us stories<\/strong><\/p>\n

Psychologist and researcher Jerome Bruner found that facts are 20 times more likely to be remembered if they\u2019re part of a story. Stories are powerful because they provide context and create an emotional connection. In other words, the right story wrapped around an idea makes the core message stickier\u2014easier to remember. A PowerPoint or Excel presentation doesn\u2019t.
\nThat\u2019s why great strategists tell stories.<\/p>\n

6. They dig in<\/strong><\/p>\n

Strategy Execution isn\u2019t something other people should worry about while doing something far more important.
\nGreat strategists know this, and that\u2019s why they have Strategy Execution high on their agenda as well. They know that if they don\u2019t, PowerPoint will end up catching dust on desks until the next strategy exercise.<\/p>\n

7. They educate us<\/strong><\/p>\n

Bad strategists show off their strategic thinking skills at every opportunity.
\nGood strategists never brag about their conceptual strengths. Memorable strategists make it their mission to share their knowledge, educating others on what strategy is all about, and how to ask the right strategy questions.<\/p>\n

In short, memorable strategists inspire others to think the unthinkable. And then\u2014like everyone else\u2014they roll up their sleeves and help the organization succeed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today<\/span> we<\/span> publish<\/span> a<\/span> commentary by<\/span> <\/span>Jeroen De Flander. He is an international expert on Strategy Execution \/ Performance Management & author of Strategy Execution Heroes.<\/em>
\n\tJeroen has come across many strategists in his career. Some were bad. Most were average. Only a few were truly incredible.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[692,691],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3303","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-strategy-development","category-strategy-execution"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.strimgroup.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3303","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.strimgroup.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.strimgroup.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.strimgroup.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.strimgroup.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3303"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.strimgroup.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3303\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12364,"href":"https:\/\/www.strimgroup.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3303\/revisions\/12364"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.strimgroup.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3303"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.strimgroup.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3303"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.strimgroup.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3303"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}