Your strategy: Are you asking the right questions?
Does your strategy still fit after Covid-19 and the lockdown? The author identifies three critical questions that can help you determine whether you should revamp your business strategy now.
For many companies, Covid-19 and the lockdown have changed a lot. So it's only logical to take a look at whether the strategy still fits and where adjustments are needed. Right? Wrong!
After all, if you had a robust strategy, one based on a strong vision, a clear "why" and clear aspirations, little will change. If, on the other hand, your strategy was on too thin ice (i.e., perhaps just a "better" continuation of the past or a "more of almost the same"), then it is more than appropriate to rework the strategy anyway. The past weeks were then only the stone that provides the necessary impetus.
Where the danger spots are for your strategy
But even if you say you have a strong and robust strategy, I keep seeing three issues that get far too little attention when it comes to successfully shaping the future. Better to look at this immediately for your company or area. Time is of the essence.
Because far too quickly we often assume that business will continue much as it has in the past, that our future success will be derived from past success, that the team that got us here will be the one that leads us into the future. And these assumptions are precisely the danger spots for our success in the future.
There are no "stupid questions
In contrast, I recommend three crucial and usually underexposed questions for a strong strategy:
- Who do we want to become? This question is hardly ever asked seriously, but it is at the beginning of everything. How are we going to join forces and strive together for excellence if we don't have a unified understanding of who we want to become? Without the answer to this question, you will remain mediocre.
- What business models do we want to have for this? Most of the strategy discussions I see revolve around expanding what already exists. Only a few think radically enough in terms of new business models. Most also don't even know how to approach this systematically.
- What demands do we set ourselves for this? Claims or standards are those ways of thinking and behaving that we demand from every member of the organization at all times. Strong strategies define very clearly how we must behave every day to achieve the strong goals. By the way, this doesn't have much to do with the "values" that are often used.
As always, it's your choice whether to seize the opportunity now and revamp your strategy. The time to do so has never been better.
To the author:
Volkmar Völzke is a success maximizer. Book author. Consultant. Coach. Speaker. www.volkmarvoelzke.ch
