Ever found yourself in the middle of a “Transformation” project that left you scratching your head and wondering where the strategy had disappeared to? 🤷‍♂️

I’ve been there too, and in my experience, most of these so-called “transformations” were more like a masquerade ball for cost-cutting.

When you look under the fancy costume it’s just cost out and efficiency that matters. The relentless pursuit of efficiency often feels like watching a slow train crash – you can see chaos and destruction coming, and you’re left wondering, “Where’s the strategy in all of this?”

Strategy is more than lofty objectives and pillars that sound like they belong in an ancient temple. The pillars are usually stupid to argue against; improve customer centricity, get better at safety, grow market share, yawn!

We’re talking about real, meaningful changes that move the needle giving you an edge relative to other players in the game.

What’s missing is a shared understanding of the game plan. Who are the key players in this game, and how and where can we outmaneuver them? That’s where the real strategy comes into play.

Let’s borrow a page from Patrick Hoverstadt and Lucy Loh‘s book, ‘Patterns of Strategy.’ They define strategy as:

“Changing our fit with the environment to our advantage by concentrating power in time.” Sounds fancy, right?

But here’s the deal: Without strategic foresight (what’s changing in the environment), an understanding of our current state (what could this mean for us, how do our capabilities stack up), and our capacity for change (how can we respond or shape this, have we had success or faceplants in the past), our transformation efforts (what we’ll do and when) can feel as chaotic as a circus without a ringmaster.

The vision might talk about leading the pack, but all we end up doing is chasing incremental efficiency gains. Incremental won’t get us to the front of the race; we’ll just be stuck in the middle of the pack.

Let’s redefine strategy from a journey from A to B with no interference, to a more dynamic game working with the forces at play. Think of it as a chess game on multiple boards, where we’re not just making moves in random order but also setting the stage to influence the outcome.

A bit more detail on what Patterns of Strategy offers for you to match yourself against others in your environment in the images below, how do you stack up against others, are you stronger, weaker, faster, slower…?

Agree or disagree? Have a view on the tangled web of strategy and transformation?

Thoughts? Let’s unpack this together! Share where your organisation stands in its transformation journey. Is it coherent or fragmented? Like, comment or share.