Measuring Strategy – Why Less is More

Tools and techniques can help accelerate and measure strategic execution.  The Balanced Scorecard (Kaplan & Norton), Strategy-on-a-Page (Childress) and others are useful when applied in the proper context.  However, don’t become enamored with a tool at the expense of your results.  I’ve seen organizations lose focus on outcomes because they blindly embraced a specific tool.  The tool became the focus instead of performance.  Sometimes, the simplest (and most obvious) approach is more effective.

Organizations are like the human body.  Each body has a unique chemistry and responds to a treatment differently.  While diagnosis may prescribe certain types of treatment, the treatment must be tailored to an individual to ensure proper care.  Use your strategic execution tools with the same caution.  If a specific approach doesn’t address the underlying symptoms, adapt or abandon it.  You can do more harm than good if you use a tool ill- suited for the need.  Doctors live by the Hippocratic Oath “first do no harm” - consultants should do the same.

Strategic execution tools, like medical instruments and methods, are designed to address specific circumstances.  When you use an approach that is not designed for its intended purpose, you can make a situation worse.  You may also mask the underlying organizational symptoms and issues, making it more difficult to discover a root cause.  Organizations are a complex system of interrelated components that affect each other.  Making a change in one area impacts others.  I’m reminded of the challenges faced by physicians when prescribing medication.  Each person’s genome  and body chemistry is different and responds to medication in unforeseen ways.  Using combinations of drugs to address different symptoms can potentially create new problems.  That’s why doctors consider side effects when combining different treatments and adjust those treatments accordingly.  This holistic approach treats the entire system, not just one organ.  Likewise, organizations must be viewed holistically so that measures taken in one area don’t create negative effects somewhere else.

As consultants, we must exercise the same caution as doctors.  We have to constantly assess the overall health of our clients as change is applied.  We also need to be mindful of our limitations and seek a specialist when necessary. I can say from experience how frustrating it can be when the wrong tool or technique is crammed into a situation.  If your preferred method isn’t right for the situation, be honest with the client and recommend another path even if it’s not your own. 

I’m reminded of Occam’s Razor where the simplest explanation is usually the most appropriate.  Only when simpler methods are shown to be insufficient do complex tools and techniques have a place in analysis and change initiatives.  One model I frequently turn to is David Snowden’s Cynefin framework.  This tool can be used to frame and analyze the situation one is dealing with.  From a critical thinking perspective, the Cynefin framework succinctly lays out guidelines that allow you to categorize and approach problems.  Below is an example I often use with groups when addressing the topic of framing and analyzing a problem.

Rural villages were experiencing high levels of infant mortality.  Many of these villages suffer from poor prenatal nutrition.  Low birth weight newborns were found to suffer from hypothermia.  Most villages lack reliable electricity and incubators are far too expensive. Is this problem, complex, complicated, chaotic, or simple?   How would you address this problem? 

For many groups I work with, they seek answers in the areas of nutrition.  Some explore means to improve access to electricity through solar or other means.  Others seek solutions to drive down the cost of incubation.   These approaches all suggest a complex or complicated approach.  However, the problem is simple.  Babies need to be kept warm when born.  The solution was found in what is known as Kangaroo Care where babies are swaddled in a blanket taking advantage of the mother’s own body heat.  While the other issues are important, the fundamental issue is one of preventing hypothermia.  Many of us over-complicate a problem too early in the analysis process.  For those of us who are engineers, it’s second nature to view each situation through a lens of complexity – it makes it more challenging.  However, by doing so, we often overlook the obvious.  The key point – start simple.  Don’t jump to a complex or complicated approach until you’re sure it’s the most relevant path to a solution.

 

I have experimented with many tools and often adapt them to address specific conditions.  In all cases, the first step in using a tool starts with an organizational analysis to identify the driving issues, objectives, strategies, and operating conditions.  This analysis doesn’t require an exhaustive review – a focused approach will quickly uncover the most relevant issues.  Getting to a good diagnosis doesn’t require months of work and hours of reviews.  A simple tool such as the Prana Business PBLine-of-Sight™ diagnostic can rapidly uncover drivers affecting organizational performance.  With a good diagnostic baseline in place, it becomes possible to pinpoint areas where change will have maximum effect.

The end game is positive results for the organization.  Any tool or technique that is not focused on that outcome is wasted time, money, and organizational energy.  With a good diagnostic baseline established, you can then apply the Pareto Principle and identify the 20% of change that will deliver the 80% of improvement.  The client’s return on investment is the most important metric for a consultant.  Deliver that ROI and your clients will keep on coming to you for help. 

Remember, it’s not about the tools it’s how you use them.  Apply the right tool in the right way and you’ll serve your client better.  In the end, the ROI results will speak for themselves and you’ll earn your client’s respect and trust.

Duane Grove is the founder of Connect2Action, a strategy execution specialist at the intersection of employee engagement and executive leadership, igniting innovation as a lever to accelerate your growth.  Follow Duane on Twitter @connect2action and connect with him on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Google+.  Learn more by visiting www.connect2action.com.