Think to Win: Unleashing the Power of Strategic Thinkking

Think To Win

“Unleashing the Power of

Strategic Thinking ”

October 15, 2015Paul Butler, President, Globaledg LLC

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An Exercise

Introductions …

Paul Butler

3 All Rights reserved GlobalEdg LLC


Session Outcomes

• Understand the need for high impact

HR contributions

• Identify a framework for Strategic

Thinking and Business Planning

• Learn to develop HR solutions that

are aligned with and support business

goals and strategy

• Build new HR connections

A Table Team Exercise

1. What business

challenges are we

facing in 2015 that are

dramatically different

from?

2. What are the implications

for HR – So What….?

3. What do you really care

about professionally?


Executive Education

Session

The STAR

Methodology

Strategic Thinking Methodology

Then Focus on the

Questions!

First The Principles

Without them … you

might be heading in the

wrong direction!

Principle #1 Challenge Assumptions

Willingly challenge all existing

assumptions and question

accepted beliefs

Why is this important?

Determine the appropriate

scale of analysis:

– Company

– Business unit

– Team


Principle #2: Scope the Issue

Principle #3: The Vital Few

Apply the 90-10 rule, i.e., focus

on the 10% of activities that will

deliver 90% of the results


Principle #4 Facts Inform Decisions

Employ fact-based decision

making, not conjecture or

opinions.


Principle #5 Linkage: Connect the

Dots

Think linkage to connect the

ideas – both upstream and

downstream


Think To Win Approach

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Of the five – what do

you believe is the

most difficult?

First The Principles


Framing the Issue

• Where does the process begin?

• Determines scope of analysis

• Answers the question: what is keeping leaders

awake at night?

• Must be significant and compelling

A Table Team Exercise

1. In your organization --- company and/or

your consulting practice what is really

keeping you awake at night?

2. What, from a professional development

standpoint is keeping you awake at night



Strong Umbrella Statements/Questions --

Elements

• Do not have solutions / actions

• Includes External / Internal Elements

• Have big picture in mind – not sub issues

• Must be significant and compelling -- hooks the

audience!

• Captures tension

If I had one hour to save the world, I

would spend 55 minutes defining the

problem and only

five minutes

finding the solution.

– Albert Einstein


The Approach


Focus on the

Questions!

Converge

Diverge

Umbrella Statement

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Use Frameworks Effectively

Some Common frameworks Appropriate for:

• Functional Example“4Ps”: Product, Pricing, Promotion,

PlacementNew product marketing

• “7Ss”: Strategy, Structure, Systems, Staff, Skills,

Style/Culture, Shared Values (Source: McKinsey)

Internal company evaluation,

M&As

• Porter’s Five Forces: Suppliers, Customers, Barriers to

Entry, Substitutes, Competitive rivalryIndustry analysis

• “Kanter Change Wheel”: Shared Visions, Symbols/Signals,

Structure/Processes, Training, Champions / Sponsors, Quick

Wins, Communicating Useful Approaches, Policies,

Procedures, System Alignment, Measures, Rewards and

Recognition

Change, Innovation and

Execution

• “7Cs”: Company, Colleagues, Category, Customers,

Consumers, Competitors, Community (GlobalEdg)

External/Internal Situation

assessment


Existing frameworks can be a useful starting point…

but recognize that they are a TOOL, not the solution



From 7Cs to SWOT

• Company

• Colleagues

• Strengths: Areas that provide competitive

advantage and enable execution of strategy

• Weaknesses: Areas where we are lacking

relative to what is needed to execute strategyInte

rnal

7C’s SWOT

• Category

• Competitors

• Customers

• Consumers

• Community

Exte

rnal

• Opportunities: External factors that are or

could offer attractive financial or strategic

potential

• Threats: External factors that are or could be

damaging to our interests


Value of SWOT

Use the list of Strengths in the context of Opportunities

to identify Potential Strategies

Internal External

Positiv

es

• Strong household brand

associated with high

quality

• Loyal consumer base

• Best-in-class

manufacturing facilities

• Growing consumer trend

of health & wellness

• Consolidation of smaller

customers which simplifies

sales & distribution

OpportunitiesStrengths


Strategic Competitive Advantage

Strengths


Source(s) of Competitive Advantage:

What truly separates you from the pack;

this is the key(s) to your leverage and

margin in the marketplace

Sustainable Competitive Advantage?

• Temporary or built into the

organization

• Can be sustained for 3 or more years

• Increasingly difficult to create

SCA Questions

1. What must we do that no one else can do?

2. What do we want to be best in the world at?

3. What is the single best reason for our success?

4. Is our SCA anything that a competitor could say about

their organization?




Key Issues / Goals Framework

Key issues and Goals should be

… … Balanced, i.e., considers implications and impact on:

• People

• Organization

• Marketplace

• Financial

2.

Organization

1.

People

4.

Financial

3.

Marketplace

Key Issues & Implications

Key Issues are: Implications are:

• The most important

“takeaways” from the

Situation Assessment

• A synthesis across

different components

• A shortlist of items the

business must address in

the near future

• The “so what” of the Key

Issues

• Combines potential/risk

and action language

• Not quantified at this stage

– leave that for the Goals

section




Objectives

• A Governing / Objective Statement is:

A statement of purpose that helps the

organization focus and provides a point of

view and guardrails for the business. It sets

the context for addressing the most critical

strategic issues for the business.



Key Issues / Goals Framework

Key issues and Goals should be

… … Balanced, i.e., considers implications and impact on:

• People

• Organization

• Marketplace

• Financial

2.

Organization

1.

People

4.

Financial

3.

Marketplace


Examples of Goals

Financial

Goals

Marketplace

Goals

• Grow revenue by 10% a year to $500M by 2015

• Achieve 15% contribution margin by 2013

• Reduce costs by 5% a year

Organizational

Goals

• Increase market share from 25% to 30% in 2012

• Grow our international business by 2x by 2014

• Maintain zero overhead growth (ZOG) on SG&A on an

annual basis

• Build Away From Home sales organization to double our

distribution reach by July 2012

People

Goals

• Improve Gallup score by 10% by Dec 2012

• Reduce employee turnover rate to 2% by 2013



Goals vs. Strategies

Goals Strategies

• Are the WHAT – measurable

ends that we want to achieve

• Are at the highest level of the

STAR hierarchy

• Are MECE (mutually exclusive

collectively exhaustive) – goals

generally should not overlap with

one another

• Are the HOW – description of the

actions that we will take in order

to achieve our goals

• Are at a lower level of the STAR

hierarchy

• Are usually not MECE – one goal

can have multiple supporting

strategies and some strategies

can support multiple goals


Strategies

• This is the HOW

• Be Bold !

• Be Innovative!

• Include enough detail to assist understanding;

don’t create a plan of action

• It is about Choices

Strategies as choices – What needs to be true?

Identified

Duracell

Strengths

Screening Criteria

What needs to be true?

Screening Criteria

X

X

X

X

X

Strategic Options

1. xxxx

2. xxxx

3. xxxx

4. xxxx

5. xxxx

6. xxxx

7. xxxx

8. xxxx

9. xxxx

10. xxxx

Final Choices

1. xxxx

2. xxxx

3. xxxx

4. xxxx

5. xxxx


Examples: Goals & Strategies

Goal Strategies

Grow revenue by 10%

a year in the Fresh

category over the next

3 years

Increase Marketing Spend to drive HH penetration

from 4% to 4.5%

Increase Investment in product innovation to increase

frequency of loyal users from 3x to 4x per year

Increase price on specialty SKUs by 3%

Maintain Zero

Overhead Growth over

next 3 years

Eliminate 50% of non-critical path activities

Introduce Strategic Sourcing Initiative to each

Business Unit

Expand Lean capability to SG&A areas



Strategy & Execution

Fact-based

AnalysisObjectives / Goals Strategic Priorities Key Initiatives &

Programs/Projects

Financial Objectives

’09 ‘10 ‘11 ‘12

2.1

2.3

2.2

2

3.1

3.2

3.3

3

1.1

1.2

1

1.3

• Internal Scan

• External Scan

• SWOT Summary

• Competitive Advantage

• Key Issues

• Business Implications

Plan Execute

Non-financial, e.g.,

Organization

People

Business Process

Customer/Consumer

Source: PK Associates


“Strategies most often

fail because they aren’t

executed well. Things

that are supposed to

happen don’t happen.”Larry Bossidy - Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done


“Great! now, how do

we make this happen?” Dennis Von Ende - Planning Committee Member

Who we need


Team

Support

Function

Results

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Working Group: Competitive Advantage Membership:

Sponsor: Names

• Leader:

• Facilitator:

• Team members:

Assumptions:

• Leveraging work underway – not beginning from scratch

• xxxx

• xxxxx

• Need to look broader at “competition” and define

Timing / Communication:

• Launch 12/1 and is completed by 10/1

• Update Leadership Team Monthly

• Progress presented at Q1 and Q3 Town Hall

• xxxxxxx

Interdependencies:

(Name the people)

• XXXX in Corporate

• XXX Leader of Competitive Advantage Team

• Functional Leaders2Significance / Objectives:

• Scope is XXXX

• Deliver xxxx while xxxx

• XXX in Place

• Volume up in market A by

• Cost savings of identified

SAMPLE CHARTER

Did We Win?


Thank you!


Paul ButlerPresident

GlobalEdg LLC

[email protected]

(203) 405-6810

www.GlobalEdg.com

Leadership & Management

Think to Win: Unleashing the Power of Strategic Thinkking