Within Eagle’s fine nest, Strategy is at its finest… on its crest, Innovation is at its best!

Courtesy - Google's eagle images assembled/modified with our inspiration

Over the last few days, I have received quite a few informal questions - the most notable one being is about -the recent “Redefined Value equation” principle, not complimenting our earlier principle of “Strategize from the Core and Innovate from the Edge”. In other words, how is it possible for “Core and Edge” to perform their respective “strategize and innovate” functions, and yet balance each other as a “cohesive whole” simultaneously?

While these principles might sound like a paradox on the surface –beneath them, they indeed complement one another. As I was thinking about the best way to explain this paradox, I was immediately reminded of our Eagle metaphor (http://strategywithapurpose.blogspot.com/2010/07/strategy-is-like-eagles-mounting-up.html) -and so, decided to go back to the eagles for additional inspiration. With most of eagle’s characteristics being already covered in our earlier blogs, I was definitely challenged to come up with yet another compelling inspiration to explain this paradox. However, with eagle being symbolized to the “Almighty God” in the scriptures- the mother eagle did not disappoint us again- with her never-drying reservoir of compelling inspirations!

With that said, I must admit that it is not an exaggeration to say that eagle’s life is full of poetical inspirations- whether it be their structural beauty, rhythmic energy or inspirational insights - and, today’s inspiration is no exception either–as it is about “the mother eagle stirring up her nest” within the context of its seasons. As I started visualizing this stirring up event in eagle’s life – I was amazed how God’s creatures are wonderfully made to be the best strategy teachers. In other words, the mother eagle herself has become our strategy teacher today, explaining this seemingly opposing paradox, with an eagleical* poetry –


Transforming our quest in to her inspiring thirst, by
Turning her fine nest in to strategy’s fine nest (finest),
Making her crest as innovation’s bee nest (best), yet
Sustaining her thirst without going to rest, until
Re-cycling our (strategic) zest in to her seasonal quest!

With all the pun aside, I guess it is time to stir up our inspiration! We all have seen eagle’s nest being knitted together very high on the branches of a tree or in the edges of a cliff. However, not many of us, perhaps, have had the opportunity to glimpse at it from inside though. Apparently, the mother eagle starts the nest knitting process with wild thorns, broken branches, sharp rocks, and a number of other construction materials like a seasoned “strategist/operator” from “Eagle Nest Inc”. But then, she lines up her nest with a thick padding of wool, feathers, and fur from the wild animals on top of them making it soft and comfortable for the eggs. By the time, the eaglets reach the flying age, the comfort of the nest make them quite reluctant to leave the nest. That’s when the mother eagle decides to stir up the nest. With her strong talons, she begins pulling up the thick carpet of fur and feathers, bringing the sharp rocks and branches to the surface. As more and more of the comfortable cushion gets plucked up, the nest becomes uncomfortable for the young eaglets to live there anymore– and eventually, making them to move on to its crest.

Similarly, by the time the core reaches its maturity (or the flying stage), the comfort of the nest, or the so called, continuous revenue streams indeed make them reluctant to innovate. That’s when our “purpose-profit balanced strategy” (like the mother eagle) must start “stirring up the core” with its strong talon like “differentiating strategies” -and pull up the thick carpet of “easy revenue streams”, thus bringing the reality of disruptive innovation opportunities (or threats) to the surface. As more and more of these opportunities come to the surface (both from within and from the competitors), the nest becomes uncomfortable for the core, and eventually making them to re-examine their successful products and business models- and to prepare them to innovate with an edge.

Yet another insightful part of this stirring up event is- how the mother eagle starts the stirring up process within the context of its seasons. As it turns out, the mother eagle takes good care of its eaglets during their growing up stages with a fine nest –symbolically making - “strategy to be its finest” (or in alignment with the strategize from the core principle). However, as the season starts changing – the same mother eagle, starts stirring up the nest (or disrupts the core) - symbolically making –“innovation to be its best” (or in alignment with innovate from the edge principle).

The stirring up event does not stop there either. The mother eagle (after stirring up the nest), apparently starts walking down deep in to its nest (eagle’s nest can be of 10 feet deep!), gathers all of its eaglets on to its wings, and then starts the flight to its crest. What happens in the air is all the more intriguing – the mother eagle, apparently starts shaking those eaglets off -just to teach them the strategy lesson– “what it takes to be an eagle”– symbolizing, how a “purpose-profit balanced strategy” is supposed to use an edge (or disruptive innovation) opportunity to disrupt the core. On situations, when those eaglets slip and fall – the mother eagle,apparently stoops down below, lifts them back on to its wings - and the acrobatic flight lesson continues till the eaglets start flying on their own.

As we observe this this end-to-end stirring up event - the mother eagle, not only, stirs up the eaglets, but also, shakes them off in the air, until they start flying on their own. Let us face it – had not the mother eagle started stirring up those eaglets (and shake them off in the air), those eaglets would be just enjoying the cozy life, never would have learned to fly at all (as there is no incentive for them to leave the nest). And, above all –they never, ever would have got the opportunity to build the nest of their own in the future (symbolizing the edge becoming the core in the following season) and make the eagleical cycle moving - very much like the” redefined value equation”, balancing “core and edge” within the context of their seasons- and, yet continuing the seasonal value equation cycle- (http://strategywithapurpose.blogspot.com/2010/10/balancing-opposites-using-redefined.html) as outlined in our earlier blog.

A point of clarification about seasons - seasons, (although primarily are defined with a time dimension), also have other dimensions (i.e. place, money, opportunity etc.), and so, our concept of seasons should take in to account all of those dimensions in a holistic manner. For example, while it might be relatively difficult to balance “core and edge” simultaneously within the time dimension, under the place (or opportunity) dimension, they both can be easily balanced simultaneously , provided they are executed in different business segments/geographical places (or different opportunity spaces) using one of the organization models, we had laid out earlier (http://strategywithapurpose.blogspot.com/2010/08/strategize-from-core-and-innovate-from.html) .In other words, within the time dimension of the seasons, we are better of sequencing core and edge -whereas within the non-time dimensions, we are better of executing them simultaneously.

Yet another point of reinforcement within this context is- our principle of “redefined value equation” is not at all against structuring the businesses in to core and edge (or stars and dogs etc.) – as these structures are very much needed for better manageability and faster decision making. On the other hand, what the “redefined value equation” encourages is that core and edge should be treated or given its due importance (not necessarily equal importance)- very much like how the mother eagle does both (caring and stirring/shaking) within the context of their seasons to make them to be part of a cohesive whole – which, by the way, was exactly the key complimentary point intended by our paradox (with those two principles) as illustrated on the “eagleical picture” on the top of the page.

Bottom line: The principle of “strategize from the core and innovate from the edge” is relevant only when we have the “redefined value equation” mind set - of balancing core and edge as a “cohesive whole” by giving their due importance within the context of their seasons -very much like how the mother eagle does both “caring and stirring /shaking” of their eaglets within the context of their life seasons- to keep the eagleical* cycle moving. With that said, I guess it’s time to come up with yet another poetical slogan – “Strategize from the nest, for the strategy to be its finest- and innovate from the crest, for innovation to be its best - all within the eagleical* seasonal quest”!

Source: Scriptures and few other Eagle research sites

Strategy – Is it a Marathon, Sprint or Both?

Courtesy: Google Images

While we have used quite a few metaphors in the past to explain the purpose-profit balanced strategies – the one, that has caught my attention the most, in recent days is – “Is Strategy, a marathon, sprint or both?” Granted, the street often pushes the firms to run the race with a sprint like mentality producing quick wins– yet, history is also, filled with examples of firms fading away in to the doldrums (after producing those early quick wins)- partly because of their lack of marathon like mindset. Hence, the question before us today is -do we execute our strategies with a sprint mindset, marathon mindset, or both?

Solomon – the wisest man ever lived – once, said -“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity”. In other words, the appropriate speed in which we react to business situations depend upon the seasons of the business cycle - and so it is important that we get in tune with the business seasons first - before deciding whether to execute our strategies with a sprint or marathon mindset. What do I mean by that?

As it turns out - the concept of seasons is what gives us the confidence that every down cycle in life or business has a beginning and an end. In other words – if situations like misfortunes, misunderstandings, quarrels, failures, disappointments, profit or loss -have no end, our life will be totally meaningless (and perhaps even boring). As a matter of fact, if there is no down time – we will not be able to even appreciate the goodness of up time – much less experiencing them.

Likewise, if we look at the characteristics of sprint and marathon races – we can clearly understand that - both have start and finish lines, and yet – what happens between their start and finish lines are a different story. In a sprint, the effort is focused on reaching the finish line in seconds or perhaps in minutes, and so the runners push hard, giving the whole energy they’ve got till they reach the finish line. Also,the timely start is critical, as it makes up the huge percentage of the race, and even a tiny stumble can cost them a heavy damage much less winning the trophy. On the other hand, in a marathon, runners know that they’re going to be running for a long time, and so pacing is critical for them to reach the finish line much less winning the trophy. While the start is important, it is secondary in comparison to sustained progress and so, one can even recover from a large stumble as long as it doesn’t result in any physical injury.

Similarly, those who approach strategy execution as a sprint quickly burn out. They run the first few days, maybe even the first month or two, like a category 5 hurricane that seems unstoppable by their competitors. And yet, as time wears on, they lose their strength (stamina), well before the finish line. On the other hand, those who approach it as a marathon, though, they get off to a good start, and yet oftentimes fall far behind the sprinters. So, the question of the day is - how do we get to that optimum speed that helps us to win the race at all times? I guess the answer lies in Solomon’s words of wisdom within the context of the sprint-marathon metaphor –“run the business race like a marathon, yet sprint up, once in a while as needed-as per the seasons – and, then scale back after the sprinting season is over”.

This does not mean that we have to be wiggling like worms for every environmental change -on the contrary, we need to be steady and manage the execution speed (or momentum) by proactively choosing the optimum speed, as per the seasons of business realities. The optimum speed is what going to help us to transcend over the minor changes of the environment – thus, giving us the control over the future ( i.e. leading to superior results) vs. letting the environment controlling our future without our proactive intervention. That being said, we cannot, however, blindly ignore the seasonal challenges as well- as adjustments (like speeding up once in a while like a sprint) are absolutely needed to react appropriately to the seasons (e.g. missing a quarter numbers). Without such minor adjustments, our strategies can quickly become irrelevant to the moment and actually end up hurting our long term success.

In the final analysis - it is a balancing act -and so depending upon the seasons- we need to pick and choose the optimum speed (as a sprint or marathon) as needed by the business realities of the seasons to sustain the momentum for the long haul. Without such speed, we might even miss the mark on some business situations – and likewise, with too much speed, we might even lose the stamina (needed for the long haul) - and so “doing both” is the way to go when it comes to strategic planning in the words of Inder Sidhu and Roger Martin. To get to that “doing both” mindset within the strategic planning process – like most things in this world – we need to adhere to certain principles to help arrive at that optimum speed.

Marathon principles

• Principle of "high energy" – Addressing “who we are” question in terms of forming the “spirit-soul-body” balanced high energy team – or hire the right people who can execute with high energy for the long haul.
• Principle of "sustainment" – Addressing the "why do we exist" question in terms of sustainment based purpose dimension.
• Principle of "endurance" – Addressing “where to play” question in terms of overcoming the early painful situations (i.e. anything is worth chasing after it creates some pain) or chasing the right market track/geography.
• Principle of “never giving up” – Addressing “what to play” question by overcoming the early brick walls with “never giving up” type differentiation and exploitation strategies.
• Principle of "dream" – Addressing “how do we win” question by “keeping the dream of finish line in mind” or with top line focused big bet ideas.
  

Sprint Principles

• Principle of "unstoppable force" – Addressing “who we are” question in terms of forming the team with a good mix of "skill, talent and giftings" who can execute with a great force for a higher first mover advantage or business impact.
• Principle of "early start" – Addressing the "why do we exist" question in terms of hitting the quarterly profit numbers quickly.
• Principle of "focus" – Addressing “where to play” question in terms of being laser focused with the right set of product and services categories.
• Principle of "finish" – Addressing “What to play” question in terms of “getting to the finish line” quickly mentality.
• Principle of "trophy" - Addressing “How do we win” question in terms of “keeping the trophy in mind” type bottom line focused operational excellence ideas.

Bottom line: As we can recognize from this set of marathon-sprint balanced principles, it is clearly evident that “there is no silver bullet” -especially when it comes to arriving at the optimum speed using these marathon-sprint balanced principles - and so, it is all the more important for organizations to properly balance these principles with a “doing both” mindset. In addition, augmenting these principles with the right set of accountability/governance processes will not only make our organizations a best in class in our industry vertical in terms of exceeding the profit numbers, but also, make them the purpose leaders for the long haul.

Purpose-Profit balanced strategic planning: Jazz and Symphony Orchestra

Courtesy : Google Images

While the foundational steps of the “purpose-profit balanced strategic planning process” reflect the basic tenets of an orchestra (as outlined in my earlier blog) – in reality- strategic planning processes vary from organization to organization. For example, the strategic planning process of a start-up firm usually differ from that of an established large firm- very much like how the jazz orchestra differs from the symphonic orchestra. In other words, in classical music, symphonic orchestra is regarded as the highly synchronized ensemble requiring integration and orchestration of various instruments (and musicians), whereas Jazz orchestra is more of an impromptu ensemble of instruments - and jazz musicians usually can knit a piece of music together by taking cues from each other and play their parts as they thought is the best – very much like the strategic planning process of a start up firm. In other words, within the purpose-profit balanced strategic planning process – we have two predominant modes: strategy as jazz and strategy as symphony – as applicable to start up firms and large firms respectively.

Depending upon the stage of the company, the type of your growth strategy and the culture – you as a leader must be asking the following questions to pick the right mode.

• Is your firm in an early start-up stage (or) ready to scale up to the next level?


• Is your strategy is to grow from adjacencies/white spaces (or) from strengthening the core?


• Is your organization’s culture - more of an informal entrepreneurial culture (or) a formal old economy model culture?

By and large - if the answers to the above questions are former- then, you need a Jazz strategy orchestra and if the answers are later – then, you need a Symphony strategy orchestra.

Under the Jazz orchestra mode, you have the flexibility to perform strategic planning in an ad-hoc fashion - formulating the vision, purpose and ideas along with your team members- very much like the musicians of the Jazz orchestra. The "beat" of your jazz orchestra is a continuous execution with constant refinements. You have the opportunity to intertwine creativity, intuition and innovation within every step of the way.

On the other hand, within the symphonic orchestra mode, the strategic planning must follow a disciplined process with leaders acting as orchestrators. With the nature and scale of the business being larger, your plans need to be completed fully before the execution starts. Purpose focused visionary strategists must be engaged at every part of the planning process, but equally important- they need to be complemented with profit focused operational strategists capable of producing operating plans meeting the quarter by quarter metrics. This type of symphonic orchestra type of strategic planning requires a dedicated strategic planning team, disciplined research, more collaboration and delegation among business units - very much like how orchestrators synchronize various instruments of a symphonic orchestra with precise alignment (i.e. clear metrics).

Folks who come from the start-up mode (with innovative culture) sometimes take time to adjust to this large firm format (and/or the formal structure), as they had to “let-go” the generalist working style and learn to play their specialist role within a larger company. And the opposite is also true as specialist type of folks who are good at scaling a business from operational standpoint- often find it difficult to adjust to a start-up mode (e.g. Innovation efforts within large firms), as it needs a person who is capable of wearing multiple hats (or generalists). The pace of an innovation culture might be seen as overly ambitious for these specialists, coming from operational mindset and they sometimes can stifle innovation if you are not careful. While it is possible for one person to exhibit the traits of both an Jazz and symphonic orchestra- it is more of an exception than a norm- and so companies must strive hard to nurture those people who can wear multiple hats.

Bottom-line: Like any other framework or model, these strategic planning modes are available as guidelines to pick and choose from depending upon the answers to the above three questions. However, in the real world, it is sometimes difficult to classify your firm as start-up firm and/or large scale firm as the type of strategy required isn't always absolute and so “doing both” might be the way to go - in the words of Inder Sidhu. Sure enough, Gerald Nanninga, also has an interesting way of classifying strategic planning as Pizza and barbecue sauces as outlined in his blog (http://planninga-from-nanninga.blogspot.com/). In other words, there are situations in which larger firms must learn to adopt the start-up culture (to innovate) - and start-up firms to periodically step back and adopt the discipline and structure of a large firm (to scale). The key is recognizing those situations and picking the right strategic mode (Jazz or symphony) that is most appropriate for the right situation. This is where intuitive leaders play a critical role in discerning the situations — and perhaps this is a great chance for you to exhibit whether you are the “right leader for the right time” as well.