Blue Ocean Strategy Australia

Let’s talk Strategy – 3 Strategic Dialogues

 

 

 

 

 

 

For any strategy to be successful there needs to be alignment of three core propositions:

• a value proposition to buyers,
• a profit proposition to investors, and
• a people proposition for those executing the strategy

When was the last time your executive team talked about your strategy and the alignment of these three necessary components?

This means not  just talking about incremental increases on last year’s budgets.  Nor just about benchmarking your investments in time and effort against your competitors’ investments.   It’s not just about sales tactics to target existing niche markets in a zero sum game, or about growth through acquisition, and it’s certainly not just about presenting individual divisional strategies to one another for bland critique.   This is about a real strategy dialogue designed to get you all on the same page and break away from your competitors.

We recommend that all executive teams should engage in 3 essential Strategy Dialogues around Value, Profit and People.

But Its All People Really

All strategy is about people – people devise, develop and execute strategy (or not).  And like it or not, divisional strategies must all align to leverage the delivery of a total, overarching corporate strategy.   So even the most hard working, efficient and effective executive teams need time to align their organisational and divisional strategies.  But to make the most of these discussions the organisation needs a framework, a language, for managing and directing these alignment discussions.

Driving your Dialogues

Blue Ocean Strategy is based on three principles which provide a framework for your exploration of strategic dialogues around value, profit and people.

The three principles are:

• Value Innovation: the simultaneous pursuit of value up, cost down and strategic pricing
• Fair Process: ensuring people are fully engaged and motivated
• Tipping Point Leadership: utilising levers of disproportionate influence to effect change at lowest cost

These are underlying principles and all three principles should be involved in driving all three dialogues.

Structuring your Dialogues

There are a number of tools which are specifically designed to draw out and explore your strategy.  These include (to mention just a few):

• The Strategy Canvas – to visualise your current strategic positions
• The Pioneer-Migrator-Settlor Map – to visualise your current competitive portfolio
• The Buyer Experience Cycle and Utility Map – to transport your team into your buyers’ shoes
• The Six Paths Framework: for exploring and uncovering valuable and viable innovations across and within industry boundaries and norms
• The Strategic Sequence and Litmus Test: for testing the commercial viability of strategy
• The Four Actions Framework: for driving focus and efficiency into investments

Alignment and Contradictions Assured

We guarantee you, that by following the process of conducting 3 robust Strategic Dialogues, you will uncover within your organsiation previously hidden misalignments and contradictions, great opportunities for quick wins and long term gains, revenue and change management reinforcing actions, cost savings and new market creating opportunities.

This simple process will become your most valuable business growth and management tool.