The Stanton Marris Blog

• Keep strategy simple (KSS)

  It’s one of the lesser joys of being an organisational consultant when the client hands you their latest strategy study. It’s invariably long and full of great analysis. All very clever stuff you are tempted to say, but does anyone really understand it? Most good strategy comes down to a few simple ideas which you can often express as simple ‘shifts’. These capture the essence of what is going to be different in the future, for example:

  • ‘Moving from being a regional player to being a global player’
  • ‘Moving from being a set of disconnected businesses to being one firm’
  • ‘Moving from a series of different technologies in different boxes to making the best use of all technologies across the company’

  So next time you’re confronted with a complex strategy document, just ask what are the three or four things that are going to be different in the future from how they are today.

  (And if anyone wants your theoretical source for this, point them to Ockham’s razor from the 14th century philosopher William of Ockham’s dictum that in complex things, keep to the simplest explanation)

  Read the full article "Keep strategy simple (KSS)"

  Published September 14, 2011
  Written by Andrew Jackson. This article is filed under: strategy process
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• Make the most of your critical friends

  It’s good for SMEs to have a number of people that they can call upon for advice and support.

  A few years ago when my business was reviewing its proposition and strategy, we realised that we’d reach that age – and growth stage – when we would benefit from a fresh, external perspective: people who were prepared to challenge our thinking and help us reach sound market-based decisions.

  We didn’t want people who would take on the formal roles of non-executives (though that of course may be the best option for many larger businesses); we needed people with whom we could share our strategic dilemmas, so they could provide us with an objective steer. Our solution was to set up an informal advisory panel of three or four ‘critical friends’…

  Read the full article in the October issue of MT Entrepreneur Weekly

  Read the full article "Make the most of your critical friends"

  Published October 16, 2009
  Written by Virginia Merritt. This article is filed under: leadership, strategy process
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• The MacLeod Review on employee engagement

  I read with interest the recent MacLeod Review by David Macleod and Nita Clarke, in essence a comprehensive review of employee engagement.  At its heart is a simple, clear message.  Employee engagement does make a difference to business performance.  There’s nothing new in that, but the real import of the review is the rallying cry it makes for a national awareness campaign. 

  That provides a real test for Peter Mandelson’s Department for Business Innovation & Skills.  Can government show the imagination and skill to galvanise employers and leaders to put the lessons of this report to work?  For if employee engagement is a key driver of productivity, then surely this report should provide a core agenda for a department which has economic recovery and long term economic sustainability at its heart.

  Of course, the subject is close to our hearts as consultants.  It embodies a philosophy that underpins much of our work.  It’s warming to see Birmingham City Council – the largest local authority in Europe - singled out as a case study.  This was based around benchmark work we did a couple of years ago in support of the team there.  It has since won numerous prizes for innovation and engagement excellence.

  One of the lessons we take from our work is that employee engagement is not some sterile process to be achieved through complex plans and communications structures.  Rather it needs to be steeped in a context that people can truly engage with. The success in Birmingham was down to people believing in the strategy. Employee engagement for employee engagement’s sake doesn’t work.

  Another key learning goes to the heart of leadership intent and attitude. Most people in the workplace have a deft sense of how authentic their leaders are and whether they are being genuinely involved in the running of the business.  It is only when that leadership authenticity underpins employee engagement that you reap the real dividends.

  So, go and read the report. But most of all take its lessons to heart.  Do something in your workplace to help raise awareness of the importance of this subject.

  Read the full article "The MacLeod Review on employee engagement"

  Published September 1, 2009
  Written by Andrew Jackson. This article is filed under: engagement, leadership, strategy process
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• 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
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• 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
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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