strategic agility (3 21 11 final)

C O N S U L T I N GA L i m i t e d L i a b i l i t y C o m p a n y

ParCon Consulting, LLC

Achieving Strategic Agility

March 23, 2011

Revision 1.0

Copyright ParCon Consulting, LLC |

Achieving Strategic AgilityContent Overview

I. Introductions & Objectives

II. Strategic Agility

III. Challenges Faced by Company Leaders

III. Approaches and Best Practices

IV. Appendix


Introducing ParCon Consulting

Key Practice Areas Experience Across Industries

Innovation and

Growth

Profit and

Efficiency

Agile Strategy

Development

Initiative

Execution

Portfolio

Optimization

Leadership & Team

Performance

Industries Sample Clients

Technology, Communications

Services

Manufacturing, Industrial

Finance, Insurance

Agricultural

Government

Energy, Transportation

ParCon Consulting

Atlanta (HQ)

Boston

Austin

San Diego

http://www.deltafaucet.com/index.html

http://www2.dupont.com/DuPont_Home/en_US/


Webinar Goals and Objectives

Goals for Today’s Webinar

1. Understand what strategic agility is and why

it is so important

2. Look at the challenges companies and

leaders are facing as they drive their

organization to become more agile

3. Approaches leading companies are adopting

to move their organizations forward

4. How is this relevant to product planning and

innovation management?


Strategic AgilityWhat is Strategic Agility?

Strategic Agility?

The ability of your organization to sense and respond to

opportunities or obstacles thru planning and execution swiftly

and effectively without loosing momentum or alignment.

What demands does strategic agility place on the organization?

• Heightened strategic anticipation

• Seamless translation from market insights into operational plans

• Unity of leadership and culture

• Resources that flow where they’re needed

• Systematic approach to improvement

How does strategic agility impact product management?

• Demands enhanced market & customer awareness

• Rapid integration of insights into actionable options for consideration, action

• Rapid translation of high-level plans into detailed execution efforts

• Ability to re-prioritize rapidly and adjust planning and people on the fly


The Allure of Strategic AgilityWhat are the Key Drivers?

Impetus to Become Reactive Impetus to Become Proactive

Exte

rnal

Dri

vers

Inte

rnal

Dri

vers

Increasing Pace &

Impacts of

Change

Limitations on

Resources and

Capabilities

Demand for

Transparency &

Consistent

Performance

Failure of Classic

Strategy &

Planning

Business Leaders

in the Middle

Addressing the challenge of effectively growing their companies….


The Essence of Strategic AgilityCompressing the Time from Insight to Execution

Sense Relevant

Changes in the Market

Translate Insights

into Strategic Options

Select Options and

Develop Strategic Plans

Align the Organization,

Take Disciplined Action

I. II. III. IV.

What is your time from insight to execution?

From Insight To Execution


Strategic SensitivityStrategic Agility Begins with Market Awareness

Pressure on Current Approach

• Increasing Pace Change

• Ubiquitous Information

• Leadership Limitations

• Ineffective Marketing Processes

Capabilities Critical to Strategic Agility

1. Frequent, effective market & customer outreach

2. Leveraging ideation, social media, crowd sourcing

3. Rapid evaluation, synthesis and integration of all of

the data in targeted insights

4. Commitment to understanding competitive dynamics

5. Customer behavior modeling and testing

Phase I Objective: To develop a

heightened sensitivity to

relevant market forces

along with the ability to

link market information

into key insights that

drive innovation &

opportunity.


Turning Insights into Strategic OptionsStrategic Options Drive Strategic Choices


• True Innovation Is Challenging

• The “Opportunity-Decision” Loop is Too Long

• Strategic Options are Poorly Developed, Siloed

• Companies Don’t Experiment


1. Processes defining who and how strategic

options are developed from market insights

2. Strategic clarity about where and what to look for

based on organizational goals & priorities

3. Culture that embraces dissent and discomfort

4. Support for structured innovation

5. Automatic triggers with pre-defined action plans

Phase II Objective: Effectively & rapidly translating

market insights into specific &

actionable opportunities aligned

with company strategy.


Agile PlanningClassic Planning Processes Require Radical Surgery


• Inadequate Planning Processes

• Lack of Engaged Participation

• Leadership Biases

• Inadequate Tools and Information

• Emphasis on Scheduling, WBS not Content, Value


1. Planning processes that are; integrated, dynamic,

ongoing focused on long-term goals & short term plans

2. Adaptive leadership that asks better questions, sets

context for honest exploration, selects the right team

3. Simplify and open up the strategy process

4. Plan for execution by understanding demands of plan

against existing resources & capabilities

5. Use a portfolio approach to make decision on initiatives

Phase III Objective: Dynamic analysis / selection

of strategic options to

optimize company value &

risk. Seamless translation

into viable action plans.


Agile Alignment and ExecutionGood Execution in an Agile Environment; Can it Be Done?


• Resources Are Scarce, Allocations Are Sub-optimal

• Organizational Alignment is Suffering

• Systems Aren’t Flexible Enough

• People are Traumatized, Overburdened


1. Resources must flow freely to the point of need

2. Unity of leadership built thru shared goals,

compensation & reward structures,

3. Culture characterized by frequency, intensity,

informality, openness, shared issues, longer term view

4. Job descriptions & performance expectations re-

envisioned

5. Processes and IT systems modularized or redesigned

to be reusable, scalable, & flexible

Phase IV Objective: Effective communication &

mobilization of people and

resources supported by key

processes and systems.


Strategic AgilitySummary

Achieving strategic agility will be one of

the greatest challenges facing

companies & leaders in the next 20 years

Strategic agility demands a systems

approach and will require that we re-

think every part of the organization

Achieving strategic agility only happens

when you get all of the pieces in place –

even missing one will negate the value

Management processes must be

supported by advanced decision support

solutions (like Accept 360) in order to

succeed.

Knowing where to start is key…

Our Experience Indicates...

People

Building Blocks of

Strategic Agility

2011 Copyright Accept Corporation | Slide 13 Proprietary and Confidential

Appendix: Optional Slides For Client Presentations

The slides that follow may have been referenced during your presentation


The Challenge of Strategic AgilityWhy Companies Struggle to Achieve it?

Both the Problems & Solutions

are Complex

Solutions demand a systems

approach

Issues are complex & multi-variable

Demands ability to rapidly do top

down evaluation and analysis

Also requires linkage with detailed

bottom-up planning and execution

It takes time (years) and consistency

of purpose to see results

Leaders think about, talk about, and most truly want “strategic

agility” but very few companies have attained it. Why?

Demands on People Run Counter

to How they Typically Behave

Strategic agility often runs counter

to leadership habits

It must overcome cultural hurdles

(change, clear job expectations)

Requires tolerance for risk

You have to have perspective to

really see the value

It tends to get harder the larger an

organization becomes