The link between vision and results is the development and implementation of concrete plans for bringing the willed vision into effect.
To that end, senior management need the capacity for strategic thought. The basic objectives of strategy may be quickly summarized.
They are to minimize the risk of misdirected effort and to maximize the probability of successful outcome.
The strategic process requires the senior management team to visualize the situation of the organization and to describe the steps that are to be taken to deal with the problems or otherwise improve upon the environmental situation of the organization or its performance efficiency.
To visualize in such a manner, the management team must have a clear understanding of the organization and its environment and at least sufficient technical expertise to understand what can be done and how.
The lack of such technical expertise is the basic reason why so much strategic thinking is little more than waffle, and why so many plans of action come to nought.
A person who possesses only “high level leadership skills†may be able to conceive and articulate a vision, but without deep knowledge of the organization, its environment and what is technically possible, the vision is likely to remain no more than a pipe dream.
There is little value to so-called “high level†skills, unless one has access to the low-level skill of being able to put a plan into effect. A person who has shallow technical knowledge may supplement it by drawing on the strength of others, but to do this, the management must be at least sufficiently sophisticated to understand the need to do this.
All too often, people who are thrust into real life positions of leadership lack even this basic understanding. The ability to think in strategic terms builds upon analytical, investigative and research skills.
Strategic thinkers need to develop their ability to process information and to move from abstract concepts to concrete plans of action. The process of strategic planning is a creative one.
The more creative that leaders are in identifying a range of possible solutions, and the measures that must be taken to implement such solutions, the more likely it will be that the organization will be able to deal effectively with the problems that confront it.
The strategic process must be an open one, free of artificial constraints. While the capacity for strategic thought is in some people, others may extend and develop that capacity through experience and practice.
The specific requirements and objectives of the strategic planning process will vary in accord with the nature of the organization and the type of activities in which it is engaged.
However, there are certain principles and aspects of the process that are common to all organizations. Two critical overall goals in strategic planning are to gain control of a centre of gravity and seize the initiative.
Looking at each of these aspects of planning individually: First, in combat, commanders are trained to focus their attention on the enemy’s centre of gravity. In the combat context, centres of gravity are those characteristics, capabilities or localities from a military force derives its freedom of action, physical strength or will to fight.
It follows that the destruction or neutralization of an enemy’s centre of gravity is the most direct path to victor. The identification of the centre of gravity is thus an essential aspect of the design of any major campaign or operation.
Once it has been identified, it becomes the focus of the overall commander. Unfortunately, unless one is dealing with a novice, the likelihood is that the enemy will also understand this fact and will therefore make plans to identify and protect its own centre of gravity.
Except in politics, military affairs and sports, it is not generally possible to strike out directly at a competitor. Nevertheless, the centre of gravity concept still has an analytical value.
Stephen Bauld is a government procurement expert and can be reached at swbauld@purchasingci.com. Some of his columns may contain excerpts from The Municipal Procurement Handbook published by Butterworths.
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