The Stanton Marris Blog

• Time to get your strategy right

  In today’s edition of the FT, management columnist Stefan Stern, writes that “business leaders ought to recognise, as they catch their breath after months of turbulence, that the strategy they were pursuing until recently is unlikely to be right for today. .. Leaders need to develop sensitivity to the mood of the organisation if they want to avoid the unpleasant surprise of being confronted by colleagues who refuse to follow the script.”

  As we know, organisational identity offers a point of stability when everything else is changing.

  Stefan goes on to say “in a battle between culture and strategy, culture usually wins. So in drawing up new strategy, make sure it is not in conflict with an organisational identity that could otherwise engulf and overwhelm it.”

  Read the full article Time to get your strategy right

  Read the full article "Time to get your strategy right"

  Published July 21, 2009
  Written by Virginia Merritt. This article is filed under: leadership, organisational identity, strategy process
  3 Comments

• Bringing strategy evolution alive

  We’ve just had the first opportunity to discuss the findings of our research with a group of clients. A lively and enjoyable discussion over breakfast reminded us of the power of thinking together.

  Testing the key themes in the report against the challenges facing our clients in their businesses today, it was exciting to see a consensus emerge that brings together the four themes in a compelling story. One that’s not only relevant to the current challenging market conditions but also, as someone said, a model for the next five to ten years.  

  We summarise it as follows:

  • The old model for organisations and leadership is gone for good – look at the impact of the internet and what’s happening now in politics. Hierarchical authority is disappearing as people demand honesty and accountability from their leaders and entitlement to a voice for themselves – at work as well as in broader society. (This points to the research theme around the need to revive the strategy process.)
  • The recession has given healthy impetus to essential changes in the way we do things, especially leadership, communication and complexity.  (All of which carry organisational risks to the execution of strategy.)
  • Leaders need increasingly to be role models and facilitators of honesty and the courage to tell the truth across the organisation – this is personally challenging for individual leaders and leadership teams. (Linked to the research theme around adapting leadership.)
  • Even when leaders get this right, the risk is that it breaks down in the management chain. The whole organisation needs practical support to  act consistently with what they value about the organisation, and to share common purpose about what’s best for the firm. (Drawing on the notion of a collective organisational identity to do this.)  

  We look forward to seeing these discussions continued and new voices joining them on this blog!

  Read the full article "Bringing strategy evolution alive"

  Published June 5, 2009
  Written by Beatrice Hollyer. This article is filed under: leadership, organisational identity, organisational risk, strategy process
  1 Comment

• 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.

  Read the full article "The risk of risk departments"

  Published April 28, 2009
  Written by Beatrice Hollyer. This article is filed under: organisational identity, organisational risk
  1 Comment

• 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?

  Read the full article "Engaging the power of organisational identity"

  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.

  Read the full article "Are we really changing?"

  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.

  Read the full article "So what is strategy evolution anyway?"

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