Strategy Management

The Challenge

We all know that strategies/standards and associated compliance are the foundation for cost-effective, low-risk, efficient, and flexible environments. But how do we make it work?

The Problem

We have methods/best practices for almost all areas. Many methods/best practices require up-to-date and concise strategies and standards as input for their processes. Then they can function as intended. Others are designed to ensure compliance with the strategies and standards. But where is the method or best practice that

• Provides up-to-date and concise strategies/standards?
• Enables those expected to be compliant to find the instructions in the information overload?
• Gets us over cultural differences?
• Positions the strategies/standards to cope with the countless number of situations that can occur?

Root cause analysis has identified 6 root causes/42 issues (listed in the book described below). Nearly all of them need to be overcome before strategy management and associated compliance can be made to work.

ComDyS' Response

Strategy management and compliance, which spans almost all areas, processes, organisations, and locations, is highly dynamic and complex, possibly the most complex challenge in organisations. Over the past two decades, many attempts have been made to solve it. It was industry dynamics that drove solution attempts to be based on the manufacturing approach with its linear/exact techniques. In larger organisations, however, this challenge is positioned well beyond the Critical Threshold^TM. Consequently, solution attempts built on linear/exact techniques are bound to fail.

With non-linear/open techniques, however, things change radically. It becomes a matter of Guided Self-Organisation^TM:

• As much guidance as necessary but as little as possible
• Making compliance attractive
• Decision-making at the optimum level
• The bits and pieces to make it work

What used to be dealt with through six (incomplete) projects can now be accomplished in a single project at the cost of only one of the six projects.

The (IT) Strategy Management Process

Based on Guided Self-Organisation and a non-linear/open process approach aligned with how human beings think and act (unlike today's processes), the (IT) Strategy Management Process provides the functionality needed to overcome the 6 root causes/42 issues and to make compliance work. Thus, it enables the value creation of strategies and standards.

The IT Strategy Management Process has been designed for probably the most complex and dynamic environment in large organisations: the IT department. Its nature makes it easily adjustable for other areas.

Impact seen in a very large IT organisation:

• Lessons learned became available with the documents, preventing other locations from running into the same (costly) issues – compare this with the typical situation where this information is hidden in email systems, Web pages, or people's minds.
• When employees didn't find a piece of available documentation (number of infrastructure document: 1,000), they sent an enquiry to the community (which is one element of the process). The typical response time was 10 minutes.
• Strategy/standards developers engaged with usergroups proactively to ensure strategies/standards are executable in the field.
• Users wanted to know the strategies/standards before working on something new – compare this with situations in which, because of the unsolved issues, a solution design is made and, at the time the orders need to be placed, the design is found to be non-compliant. 

Functionality

The (IT) Strategy Management Process includes:

• A non-linear/open process approach from the 1980s/1990s (no step-by-step instructions needed; instead: natural workflows and low-effort but high-impact functionality).
• Decision-making at the optimum level.
• The fundamental structures needed to put those expected to be compliant in a position to be compliant.
• Multiple features for quick adjustments of strategies/standards to changing business needs, changing technology, and incorporation of lessons learned.

Components

The (IT) Strategy Management Process consists of:

• A single, intuitive repository – strategies and standards with the latest status are easy to find.
• Ground rules – so everybody understands how things are done.
• Technical communities – for fast communication and incorporation of important "technical" matters.
• Incentive techniques (often at €0) – for example, explaining why it makes sense to follow a particular standard.
• Completeness – one integrated solution instead of many partial solutions with shortcomings and functionality gaps.
• Balance – for example, among central, local, and client needs.

Implementation

Natural workflows and low-effort but high-impact techniques make implementation (and the ongoing operations) smooth. Examples:

• A single repository (user perspective) in which the documents are stored: because it is the only one, users find it "automatically."
• A single repository structure, aligned with a single document structure: users learn the importance of documents and directive levels automatically, while information overload is reduced drastically. There is no need for a user education effort.
• Incentive techniques (often at €0): why using enforcement techniques when there is an alternative that delivers much better results at a fraction of the cost?
• Document content alignment: alignment to the needed structures happens when documents need to be updated anyhow. In constantly changing environments such at IT, there is no need for a major re-write effort.

Strategy Management vs. Effective Simplicity

In a standalone implementation, the Strategy Management Process enables the value creation of strategies/standards. A few additions make it a critical element for the move to and the ongoing operations of Effective Simplicity.

More information

The book, tailored for IT environments

Estimated Effort

The effort depends on the specific environment and can vary greatly. However, what used to be dealt with through six (incomplete) projects can now be accomplished in a single project at the cost of only one of the six projects.

If you are interested in . . .

• Realising the value of strategies and standards,
• Structural cost savings,
• Service improvements,
• Effective Simplicity, or
• Competitive products and services,

Then why not have a chat (+31-10 204 5952) or send us a very brief description of your business challenge. If you send us an email, we will review the description and call you for a short conversation to determine whether our services could solve your problem(s).