What is Strategy?

The other day in an interview, someone asked me, "What is strategy". Of course we all know what strategy is, right? We have lived and breathed it all our professional and personal lives. But have you ever tried to answer that question? Here is what Webster and Wikipedia have to say:

Wikipedia: A strategy is a plan of action designed to achieve a particular goal. The word strategy has military connotations, because it derives from the Greek word for general.
Webster: a careful plan or method : a clever stratagem b : the art of devising or employing plans or stratagems toward a goal

Sounds straight forward enough, but I'll bet if you asked 10 business people what strategy is, you'd get 10 different answers. Here is my answer...

In business as in your personal life you have missions, visions or goals- call them what you may. You create a strategy to meet these goals. So, I agree with Wikipedea and Webster that a strategy is a plan to achieve a goal, vision or mission. Here is where folks disagree- I think that your mission, visions or goals stay constant, where you strategy needs to be tweaked or changed along the way. You've heard people say "stick to the strategy", others say "Veer from the strategy and you'll fail". I say if you don't change the strategy based on variable conditions as you work toward your vision you will fail. What do I mean?

This summer my husband and I had a mission to have our 3 kids experience Washington DC and have a wonderful time. Our strategy was to drive Minneapolis to DC using a preplanned route which would take 48 hours. including a stop at my sister's to spend the night and would arrive in DC by 1:00 on Monday. Monday afternoon we would spend at Arlington, Tuesday we would see ALL of the monuments and Wednesday we would hit 3-4 museums and be back on the road by 3 PM.
All was going well until we hit road construction. Our strategy was at risk and we had not made any contingency plans- horror! We got to DC at 3:00- 2 hours off of our strategic time frame and then we hit DC traffic which took another hour. We got to our hotel at 4:00- 3 hours off our plan, I started to stress just a bit, but we could still get to Arlington- game on! Except, the kids wanted to order pizza and watch a movie- they were sick of being in the car. What? Now our plans to go to Arlington were in jeopardy- our strategy was going downhill FAST!
Guess what we did? We went swimming, got a pizza and watched a movie.
On Tuesday we went to some, not all, of the monuments and to the Hirshhorn Museum. On Wednesday, our final day, we went to the Air and Space Museum all morning, had lunch at an outdoor cafe and then drove through Arlington National Cemetery on our way out at 3:00 PM.
Think about it, we got to DC 3 hours after our planned time, we missed "touring" Arlington, we missed 2 monuments and we only went to 2 museums instead of 4. This project manager, me, had failed to accomplish our strategy- or did I? Remember that our mission was to have our kids experience DC and have a wonderful time. If you ask the kids about the trip they will tell you that it was one of the best trips ever. We tweaked our strategy based on the conditions that changed on us, but we succeeded at our mission.

I would offer that a good strategy is a clear plan that is flexible enough to change with variable conditions and meet the stated mission, vision or goal.
What do you think??

You are only as successful as your team

Your team will determine your success. A lot is written about team work and being a team player. Who would stand up in a room and say they are not a team player? NO ONE if they know what is good for their career. But, in truth, you always have folks on your team who do not want to be there and are not team players. The problem is that your team is only as strong as it's weakest link. I know that sounds very cliche, but it is true. Either team members will have to make up for this person or they will let this person drag them down also. OK, so what are some ways you can ensure you have a proactive, successful team?

1. Be sure your team understands the goals and success metrics, why the project is important and how they play a role in the success.
2. Set team guidelines upfront, including an escalation plan. If people know what to expect, they are more likely to behave like a team. Ask them to help draft the guidelines. They will take more ownership.
3. When issues arise- involve and trust the team. They are going to be doing the work, they should be involved in determining the best solutions to issues that arise. They will feel an amazing amount of accountability if they know you trust them.
4. Call out nay sayers on the sidelines. When negativity happens in a meeting, putting off this issue by saying, "I know there are some concerns which we will deal with. Right now, we have to get xyz task done". Then continue your meeting. After the meeting, meet with the nay sayer one on one and ask questions like "Can you tell me what is wrong?", "I noticed that you were silent today, what's up?", "Questioning the status quo during the project will make us even more successful. I sense you don't agree with the direction we are taking. It would be helpful if you would state your disagreement and ask for opinions rather than make side comments. Can we agree to that?" Be sure to reinforce wanted behavior. As a last resort, let the person know that you will have to talk to their supervisor if they don't change their behavior.
5. Celebrate, celebrate, celebrate. Be sure you are celebrating BOTH the big wins and the smaller milestones. If a team feels successful, they will work harder toward the ultimate success.

I can't stress how important a strong team is to your success. Invest the time and energey- it is well worth it in the end!

From Failure to Success

In the 10 years I have managed projects, I have taken over many troubled programs and projects. Including some that were so far gone that they in jeopardy of being cancelled. In every instance, we, as a team were able to turn those projects around and make them successful.

In this blog I won't go into the "hard project basics" like the project plan, the work breakdown structure or the QA plan. Project methodology is important and critical to a project's success. I am making an assumption that all talented project managers know these tools. My question is how you truly lead a project out of trouble when you have those "hard project basics" in place? You start with what I consider the basics of successful project leadership.

I would caution that you have to work quickly, but carefully... you likely only have this one chance to turn the program or project around. I approach troubled projects the way I approach all projects:

1) Stakeholders: Meet with the stakeholders. Start at the top. Are they all in agreement as to what the vision and success metrics are? If not, this is likely the root of your problem. Taking the time to clarify the vision and success metrics will save you a lot of time and money in the future. The stakeholders will all need to meet together and look each other in the eye and agree. This lays your foundation for a strong program and/or project.
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2) Team: Meet with the team, together and individually. Does your team clearly understand the vision and success metrics? If not, find out why they were unclear. Find out why they think the project is failing and what they think the team should do to turn it around. Let them be part of the solution. Lead them to the solution, don't just solve it for them! If people feel like they are part of a team that is turning things around, they will act like a winning team. Each member is part of the team and they have a responsibility to each other. This can be tough to instill, but it is important.

3) Clear communication and escalation paths
If the vision and success metrics are clear and the team understands them, how could a project be in trouble? Without clear communication and escalation paths a project can fall apart. I've been on projects where folks are "punished" for giving the bad news. That is exactly what you want your team to come tell you- what is going wrong? It is your job to coach them through the tough spots and remove road blocks so they can get their job done. If they don't understand how to escalate problems- you've just created a problem- a big one!
Communication is such an overused buzz word and an under-utilized reality. Think of how many projects you have been a part of. Has the communication between teams been good or strained? Does the right hand know what the left hand is doing? Clear, concise, actionable communication is imperative for the success of a project.

4) Celebrate Successes: This is important with all projects, but it is crucial with troubled projects. The team likely feels beaten down and unmotivated. Tell the team that them successes will be celebrated and then do it- big or small, successes should be acknowledged and celebrated Let the team feel the success- they will work harder and smarter. They need to know that what they are doing matters!

The question often asked at this point goes back to those "hard project basics"... what about the inter-dependencies, what about the contingency plans, what about the Gant charts? When managing a project it is your job to ensure all of these tools are in place- these tools are the foundation of managing a project. When truly leading and turning a project around, you need to call on the "softer project skills"... in the end, they are "harder" to do and make the difference between mediocrity and excellence.

3 steps for any successful strategic implementation!

Question: What are the steps for successful strategic implementation?
Answer? It depends on the program or project, but these are the first 3 steps that will make you successful in any implementation.

1) Is there a clear vision and goals? Do the stakeholders agree and can you clearly articulate this to the organization? If the answer is no, DON'T move forward with the project until this is clearly defined. It is imperative that the team understand the bigger vision and goals.
2) What are the success metrics? If the stakeholders can't articulate or agree on the success metrics, DON'T move forward with the project until there are success metrics. What is the strategy going to measured against? How will you know if it is successful? The team implementing the strategy needs to understand what the measures are to ensure they execute the project strategically.
3) Have you communicated to the team?: Clear vision and goals along with agreed upon success metrics give your team a compass to travel by. Ensuring that the vision, goals and success metrics stay front and center is your job as a leader. Be sure the vision and success metrics are on every document that is shared and that you start every meeting with this same information. Focusing on these will give your team a critical tool they need to determine the "right path". If something they are working on will not meet the vision, goals or success metrics, they know to question their path.

I know this seems simplistic, but it works!

Execution- The Discipline of Getting Things Done

This book is an excellent reference tool for strategic implementation.
The link is a 1 page summary of the book for those of you who want the cliff notes!
In defining execution Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan hit the nail on the head when they say "7. The way to link the three core processes of any business- the people process, the strategy and the operating plan- together to get things done on time."
Successful businesses realize the importance of strategic execution- not for the sake of following a process to get something done, but to bring business strategies to reality through your team.
Be clear in your strategies- communicate consistently
Foster a culture of honesty, collaboration, results and success
Empower your team to execute the business strategies
Celebrate success
These are the keys to bringing business strategies to reality through your team.