As a Techincal SME, you know that success is not just about working hard, but also about working smart. In order to achieve your goals, you need to develop a solid strategy that helps you plan and prioritize effectively. In developing a strategy you are going to want the best practice tools that can help you lead your team to success.
Culture eats Strategy for Breakfast
Peter F Drucker
So… Why talk about Strategy
“Culture eats strategy for breakfast” is a famous quote from the father of modern leadership and writer. To be clear Drucker didn’t mean that strategy was unimportant – rather that a powerful and empowering culture had a profound impact on success as it established the organization’s mission, values, and norms.
Drucker believed that a strong culture can foster employee engagement, teamwork, and innovation, contributing to long-term organizational performance.
However he also emphasized that strategy is about defining and continuously adapting an organization’s purpose, goals, and direction in response to changing environments.
Start with your goals
The first step in developing a strategy is to clearly define your goals. What are you trying to achieve? What are the key outcomes you want to see from your project? By answering these questions, you can start to develop a clear picture of what success looks like and what you need to do to get there.
Analyze your resources
Once you have a clear understanding of your goals, it’s time to take stock of your resources. What do you have available to you? This includes not just your budget, but also your team’s skills and knowledge, your network, and any other relevant resources. By understanding what you have to work with, you can start to identify the gaps you need to fill and the areas where you can focus your efforts.
Identify potential obstacles
No strategy is foolproof, and it’s important to identify potential obstacles that could derail your plans. This might include external factors like market changes or internal factors like team dynamics. By anticipating potential roadblocks, you can start to develop contingency plans that will help you stay on track even if things don’t go according to plan.
Prioritize your actions
With your goals, resources, and potential obstacles in mind, it’s time to start prioritizing your actions. What are the most important steps you need to take to achieve your goals? Which actions will have the greatest impact on your project’s success? By prioritizing your actions, you can focus your energy and resources where they will have the greatest impact.
Create a timeline
Finally, it’s important to create a timeline that outlines when you will take each action. This can help you stay on track and ensure that you are making progress towards your goals. Be realistic in your timeline, but also be sure to set deadlines that will motivate you and your team to keep moving forward.
By following these best practices for developing a strategy, you can position yourself and your team for success. Remember, developing a strategy is not a one-time event – it’s an ongoing process that requires constant evaluation and adjustment. By staying flexible and adaptable, you can ensure that your strategy continues to guide your team towards success, no matter what challenges arise.
Don’t forget to check out the references and resources below for more information on developing a strategy.
Body of Best Practice: Books
- “The Art of Possibility: Transforming Professional and Personal Life” by Rosamund Stone Zander and Benjamin Zander
- “The 4 Disciplines of Execution: Achieving Your Wildly Important Goals” by Chris McChesney, Sean Covey, and Jim Huling
- “Good Strategy/Bad Strategy: The Difference and Why It Matters” by Richard Rumelt: This book focuses on the importance of creating a clear and concise strategy that is tailored to your organization’s specific needs.
- “The Art of Strategy” by Avinash K. Dixit and Barry J. Nalebuff – This book explores the fundamentals of strategy, including game theory and decision-making.
- “Blue Ocean Strategy” by W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne – This book presents a unique approach to strategy development that emphasizes creating new markets and value rather than competing in existing ones.
- “The Lean Startup” by Eric Ries – While not specifically focused on strategy development, this book provides valuable insights into how to create and prioritize experiments to test and refine your strategy.
Body of Best Practice: Journals
- In addition to these books, here are some academic articles that may be of interest:
- “What Is Strategy?” by Michael E. Porter – This Harvard Business Review article is a classic in the field and provides a framework for developing a strong and effective strategy.
- “A Behavioral Theory of the Firm” by Richard M. Cyert and James G. March – This article from the Journal of Business explores how organizations make decisions and develop strategies based on a variety of internal and external factors.
- “Strategic Agility: Moving Beyond Strategy as a Plan” by Kathleen M. Eisenhardt – This article from the California Management Review argues that strategy development should be an ongoing and iterative process rather than a static plan.
- “Dynamic Capabilities and Strategic Management” by David J. Teece – This article from the Strategic Management Journal proposes that organizations need to develop “dynamic capabilities” to successfully adapt and thrive in rapidly changing environments.
- “Strategic Leadership: The Essential Skills” by Paul J.H. Schoemaker, Steve Krupp, and Samantha Howland. Harvard Business Review.
- “When to Drop a Bombshell” by John Daly and Anita Williams Woolley. Harvard Business Review.
- “The Strategic Use of Stories in Organizational Communication and Learning” by David M. Boje. Academy of Management Review.
- “The Role of Planning in Entrepreneurial Firms: Inside the Black Box” by Sharon Alvarez and Jay B. Barney. Journal of Business Venturing.
- “How Leaders Influence Followers Through the Use of Nonverbal Communication” by Michael E. Stuber and Gerald L. Hunt. Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies.
- “Creating and Managing a High-Performance Knowledge-Sharing Network: The Toyota Case” by Kazuo Ichijo and Ikujiro Nonaka. Strategic Management Journal
- “The Promise of Entrepreneurship as a Field of Research” by William B. Gartner. Academy of Management Review.
