The Stanton Marris Blog

• The risk of risk departments

  Nassim Taleb’s 2007 book ‘The Black Swan’ has been back in discussion recently as people debate whether the economic crisis fits the category of ‘black swans’ – something no-one could have predicted, but of which a single occurrence invalidates previous beliefs (such as ‘All swans are white’). Did anyone really predict the banking crisis? Certainly no-one acted to prevent it.

  Taleb’s thesis reminds us of what someone called ‘the risk of risk departments’ – by having a department devoted to risk, you create the illusion that you have dealt with it. In fact, what often derails strategy is what nobody is dealing with – how people behave. A strong culture can be a powerful asset, but I believe it can also entrench behaviours (such as conformism and consensus) that inhibit innovation.

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  Published April 28, 2009
  Written by Beatrice Hollyer. This article is filed under: organisational identity, organisational risk
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• Engaging the power of organisational identity

  When times are tough, more than ever the organisation must pull together and stay energised to succeed. But this is just when the pressures of the recession will tend to push people into battening down the hatches. Instinctively, many individuals will try to protect their jobs by focusing on their own agendas. It can feel counter-intuitive to lift your sights above your individual concerns to focus on the whole firm’s success. So how can leaders help people to do that?

  One answer is more face-to-face communication. That personal, human contact will connect with people’s raised emotional needs at times of anxiety and help keep morale stable. One Chief Executive told us, ‘I’ve told managers not to complain about the share price, as that just makes things worse, but try and help people stay positive.’ Another way to tap in to people’s positive feelings about the business they work for is through what we call organisational identity – a reminder of who we are and what we stand for, as an organisation. This might include stories about how the business has come through bad times before, reminders of what its founders believed, or finding ways to reinforce what people value most about the business.

  Our recent research shows that many leaders have discovered this route to engaging the heart and soul of the business in the challenge to deliver as a united team. What’s the emotional life of your business? How are you connecting with it?

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  Published April 16, 2009
  Written by Katrina Coulson. This article is filed under: communication, organisational identity
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• Are we really changing?

  We have all pretty much accepted that the global economic crisis has caused a fundamental shift in the way we will think about doing business from now on. But have we yet made any fundamental changes to the way we do strategy? Some leading companies have reacted by refusing to publish hard financial targets as they know they may struggle to achieve them. Others are being more thoughtful about what needs to be in their place. How can we convince first our people, then our key stakeholders and shareholders that we do have distinctive organisational attributes and market strengths that will help us stand firm and survive the turbulence – not just in tact,  but in fact stronger and more resilient?

  Our recent conversations for this research have revealed a new pressure on leaders to be much more explicit about the organisation’s core purpose, its DNA, the unique qualities that are valued by customers and employees alike. This needs to be woven into the strategic thinking right from the start to convince the sceptics that you really do have something to offer.

  It would be interesting to know how many companies are reviewing the way they think about strategy in these different times.

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  Published April 8, 2009
  Written by Beatrice Hollyer. This article is filed under: leadership, organisational identity
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• So what is strategy evolution anyway?

  ‘Strategy evolution: adapting to a new world’ brings together the shared intelligence of 45 of today’s leaders on how to make your strategy work in the new business environment -  the culmination of our research, and precious time kindly given up some very busy leaders to share their experiences of the new risks to successful strategy execution.

  During these frank conversations we were perhaps surprised to find little evidence of the desire to reduce their exposure to risk. Instead, we found a growing awareness of the need to be open to all the new opportunities present in the changing markets they serve. And if that means identifying and managing the organisational risks that inevitably go with them, they’ll do that better if they stick close to the heart of the business and the passions of the people who make it work. As a result we saw some organisations starting to reconsider the way they develop strategy and others focusing on adapting their leadership – all with the intent of emerging fitter and stronger from the current recession.

  We hope this is just the start of a lively debate, and welcome any comments on the research or your experiences of making strategy work in your organisation.

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  Published April 7, 2009
  Written by Virginia Merritt. This article is filed under: leadership, organisational identity, organisational risk, strategy process
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