What difference does it make?

Getting your Strategy Right

Martyn MENSAH

Model for Change

C = change D = dissatisfaction with the status quo V = vision of a different (better) future F = first steps towards change R = resistance to change
in English,

C = D x V x F>R

Change will only happen provided the product of D, V & F is greater than R
Martyn MENSAH

We have a BIG problem

We

Dont

use our most powerful resource !

Status Quo cap Current reality overload Neglect of our cognitive powers Lazy solution development Ideas deficit me toism
Martyn MENSAH

 Constantly changing

The World Today is

More difficult to predict

Complexities of business models & economies Hyper-competition The information & knowledge paradox

Affects us both outdoors and indoors

Competition from everywhere Government decisions & actions Customer behaviour & market dynamics Margin pressure, driving cost & efficiency imperatives The influence of Organizational culture & personal behaviour
Martyn MENSAH

The fact of the matter is.

There is no such thing as a permanently excellent company or permanent competitive advantage or a permanently attractive industry Each day the world we operate in changes; we also change Our response to change is what determines whether we will survive, thrive or fade away There are a million possible responses We are pre-conditioned to think in terms of existing options
Martyn MENSAH

The orthodoxy.
The Economics of the Fixed Cake also known as the trade-off mindset You need to lose something to gain something Construct barriers to protect the cake We can only gain at someones expense or If they are gaining, I am losing!
Martyn MENSAH

The orthodoxy.
The only way to get better is to squeeze more out of the same Do the same thing but with more control of the system
Measure everything and try and improve those measurements
and often we try to do this without changing anything Martyn MENSAH

A response that is often employed in the quest for how to create value, ensure growth, overcome a crisis and improve or transform your organization

Strategy is simple.

Martyn MENSAH

The Building Blocks

Why do we exist How do we create value? What kind of organization should we be? What must we do and how will we make it happen?

PURPOSE BUSINESS MODEL ORGANISATIONAL CHARACTER GOALS/PRIORITIES/ ACTIONS

How will we win the support of our stakeholders?

Martyn MENSAH

STRATEGIC CONVERSATION

 Managements job is not to see the organization as it is..but as it can become An organization exhibits strategic intent when it relentlessly pursues an ambitious strategic objective and concentrates its competitive actions and energies on achieving that objective. Effective Strategy requires an understanding of the dynamics of business especially a phenomenon known as a STRATEGIC INFLECTION POINT

Martyn MENSAH

Business grows

Business declines

Inflection point

Martyn MENSAH

Creating an Inflection Point

UT FINANCIAL SERVICES

IMAGINED financial services in a radically different way Changed the focus of the financial industry Placed REAL customer need at the centre its operations Banked the untouchables & did it in 48 hours Actually collected their loans
Customer need Doing things differently Possibility thinking
Martyn MENSAH

BUT HOW?

Ideas

Imagination

> market boundaries are not given > they are reconstructed by the actions & beliefs of industry players

Martyn MENSAH

REVERSE The orthodoxy.

Imagine & believe that there is no limit to the size of the Cake in other words develop a Trade-On mindset Look over the BARRIER Barriers are easy to dismantle/not as strong a defense as they appear We can gain by making the competition irrelevant If they are gaining, I am gaining more and faster and more sustainably than they are!
Martyn MENSAH

There are infinite number of ways to do anything Change the mindset Open eyes of your people to see things differently Slaughter the sacred cows

Imagination is the only limiting factor

Martyn MENSAH

Dont compete with rivals, make them irrelevant

Traditional strategic thinking head-to-head competition in search of sustained, profitable growth. Prevalent terminology = competitive advantage, market share and differentiation.
RESULT a bloody red ocean of rivals fighting over a shrinking profit pool.

Martyn MENSAH

Dont compete with rivals, make them irrelevant

BLUE OCEAN STRATEGY hypothesizes that this strategy is increasingly unlikely to create profitable growth in the future. New strategic thinking
succeed not by battling competitors, but by creating blue oceans of uncontested market space ripe for growth . Focus on MARKET SPACE not market share thinking This requires VALUE INNOVATION

Martyn MENSAH

Dont compete with rivals, make them irrelevant

VALUE INNOVATION creates a leap in Value for customers as well as for the company
1. reconstruct market boundaries 2. focus on the big picture 3. reach beyond existing demand

4. get the strategic sequence right

5. overcome organizational hurdles 6. build execution into strategy
Martyn MENSAH

RED OCEAN
Compete in existing market space

BLUE OCEAN
Create uncontested market space

Red vs. Blue

Beat the competition

Exploit existing demand Make the value/cost tradeoff

Make the competition irrelevant

Create & capture new demand Break the value/cost tradeoff

Align the whole system of a firms activities with its strategic choice of Martyn MENSAH differentiation OR low-cost

Align the whole system of a firms activities in pursuit of differentiation AND low cost

Identify industry success factors

DESCRIBE

EMPATHIZE

Compare with competitors (i)

IMAGINE

Compare with competitors (ii)

Challenge the orthodoxy

THINK

EXECUTE

Martyn MENSAH

Four Action Framework

Eliminate
Which of the factors that the industry takes for granted should be eliminated?

Raise
Which factors should be raised well below the industry standard?

Reduce
Which factors should be reduced well below the industry standard?
Martyn MENSAH

Create
Which factors should be created that the industry has never offered?

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0

Bank A

Bank B fut

Loan Shark

Bank B b4

Martyn MENSAH

Sincere and purposeful thought Understand your industry but dont be afraid to IMAGINE it to be different Know that every great achievement began as a thoughtan idea
Be Customer Obsessive

THINK!

Be true to yourself
Martyn MENSAH

The Power of Execution

There are a million excellent strategic plans in the corporate world Only a few succeed
The difference is in execution Developing the ideas does not automatically result in their execution

Be Aware of the:
KNOWING

G A PDOING

Martyn MENSAH

Why Strategies Fail

The IDEA was wrong

The walk does not match the talk.

Irrelevance it is out of touch with reality.

A vision or strategy should never be viewed as a magic

cure for organisational ineffectiveness and inefficiency.

It is not shared Fair process (3Es)

It lacks implementation focus/execution focus. It lacks vertical & horizontal fit. It lacks stretch Business as usual
Martyn MENSAH

The Secret to winning..

1. Throw out the old perspective 2. Scrutinize the environment & customer world for blue ocean opportunities 3. Learn to manage the most powerful resource the mind (IDEAS & IMAGINATION) 4. Reach beyond existing demand 5. Think through execution as you develop strategy 6. Win by making the competition irrelevant
Martyn MENSAH

We succeed only as we identify in life, or in war, or in anything else, a single overriding objective, and make all other considerations bend to that one objective.
Dwight Eisenhower

Martyn MENSAH

The Art of War Sun Tzu

Knowledge of the problem is key to its solution Plan for what is difficult while it is easy, do what is great while it is small. The most difficult things in the world must be done while they are still easy, the greatest things in the world must be done while they are still small. For this reason sages never do what is great, and this is why they can achieve that greatness. Do something before it exists, sense something before it becomes active, see something before it sprouts.
Martyn MENSAH

Luke 14:26-33

26

If anyone comes to me & does not hate his father & mother, wife & children, brothers & sisters, yes, and his own life also he cannot be my disciple 27 And whoever does not bear his cross and come after me cannot be my disciple 28 For which of you intending to build a tower does not sit first & count the cost whether he has enough to finish it. 31 or what king going to make war against anther king does not sit down first & consider whether he is able with 10,000 men to meet him who comes against him with 20,000? 32 or else whilst the other is still a great way off he sends a delegation and asks conditions of peace