Breaking Rules in Strategic Planning

Breaking Rules

Enhancing your decision making...in just

5 minutes

A Futures Coaching initiative

www.futurescoaching.com

#1 Favour experienceYoung, brainy consultants end up doing

what young brainy consultants can do: information trawling and number

crunchingBetter to employ the seen-it-all maverick

with an ability to cut-through the crap and get to the killer insights

#2 Top downThe craziest idea? Having advisors

reporting into an inexperienced strategy team

Strategy is far too important for anyone other than the CEO and the management

team to take onIt follows that strategy consultants

should only take briefs fromthis C Suite

#3 Find the problemThe problem is not always what it

seemsA client may be defining a 'want' but not

the underlying 'need'Strategy consultants must develop the

art of being super blunt whilst telling the truth in an acceptable way

Humour helps!

#4 Narrow the options In recent work, a client had 15 different

strategic pathways on the tableFiltering options begins, not by facts,

but by framingStructuring the analysis strengthens

thinking and supports hypotheses

#5 Use MECEMcKinsey's fact-based problem-solving

process uses MECE thinkingStanding for 'Mutually Exclusive, Collectively Exhaustive', it's about separating a problem into distinct,

non-overlapping issues whilst making sure nothing is overlooked

#6 Avoid data overload Collect data with a purpose

Set up hypotheses early in the process & collect only data which will prove or

disprove themFocus on: what assumptions need to be

true for my hypothesis to be correctSeek answers which are directionally

correct

#7 No excusesPre-internet, it was OK not to know

Today's business plans must take advantage of all available intelligenceStrategists can no longer rely on the

ignorance of a motivated audience

#8 Don't sweat the forecastsBusiness Plans need numbers – just

don't get carried awayComplex discouted cash-flow

spreadsheets are next to worthless when 5 year assumptions have no

basis other than management hopeThe truth is that no one is going to

believe the forecasts so stick to an overview of the economics of the

business and capturing its potential

#9 Go fast In the good old days, a scenario planning

exercise could take companies like Shell 2 years to complete

Today, speedy strategy is possible but requires a separation of process and task

Take time to develop the right process and the tasks will go very fast indeed

10 weeks for a business strategy, anyone?

#10 Evaluate fitWhat's right & what can be implemented

by a client are two different things entirely

“Consulting is knowing how to tailor your advice to the optimum of what the

organization will take on board & implement”

(Sir John Harvey Jones)

futurescoaching.typepad.com

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Futures Coaching in October 2012

Helping a Dutch agency identify growth opportunities & plan its strategyWorking with an international company to embed best practices in consulting into their strategyContinuing to define how trends will impact future bank branch design and rolePlanning a new report on trends in consumer healthcareAiding my co-author with a TEDx presentation on 'Young Brains'

About Futures CoachingCelebrating 5 years!

Working for great clients Doing great thingsPlanning

* corporate SWOT analysis * filtering business opportunities

* building Business CasesAnticipating

* the future of retail* the future of offices* the future of global banking* the future of Asian women

Innovating* new fund-raising offers* consumer healthcare NPD

Coaching* trends training for insight teams* personal rejuvenation training

Speaking* engagements from Taipei to Toronto