All companies go through certain moments of reflection in which they rethink their future, in which they think about how to solve a problem or simply how to improve results. When does this occur? Except in exceptional circumstances, it usually takes place when they have a little more time to think. In operating companies this occurs in the off-peak periods of commercial activity, and in startups in the early phases of launch. It is in these moments that we become truly aware of the needs we have, identify the problem and try to define a plan to solve it. It is time to analyze, define strategies, plan, etc. But we repeatedly see how the short term becomes present and strategic approaches begin to take a backseat. This is a situation I encounter quite often and it usually ends with strategic plans postponed.
Companies choose the short-term benefit of the tactic over the long-term benefits of a correct strategy.
I’m not saying that they prefer it, I understand that the vast majority are clear that the correct strategy will bring them greater benefits, but day-to-day life and other more urgent needs simply prevail. How do we solve this dilemma? In the end it’s about mindset and prioritization. The most common arguments, and industry email list totally understandable, are lack of time (staff, budget, etc.), emergencies, change of priorities due to the short term,… but why use your resources on something that is going to give you 3 , being able to work to get 6? The answer lies in the degree of certainty, in what we handle we have greater certainty of achieving those 3 in the short term, the 6 are a good promise but in the medium term and with a lower degree of certainty.
How do we manage to change the culture of a company to introduce strategic thinking into its daily decisions?
Companies are clear that strategy is the right path, but in the end they do not dedicate the necessary time to it. How do we change this? Of course we can define a complete plan to achieve this change, but for me it is based Phone Lead on four pillars: Demonstration based on data : whether based on real examples from third companies or with their real experience from the first moments of the strategic definition, the best thing to convince a company is for them to see that the benefits of a medium-term strategy, are achieved in the short term. Training : the second pillar is the training of the team involved Communication: the third is the correct transmission of tasks and benefits to the rest of the company’s employees, so that this new approach becomes part of their way of working.