Strategic clarity to a large transformation project
Understanding strategy
Many strategies are assumed to be clear, but when this is tested, you can find gaps. If a leadership team are out of sync and don’t realise it, this can create mixed messaging and confusion. Working on a six-month project with every development team involved meant this synchronisation was critical. I introduced the concept of a strategy canvas and could see quickly that there was a lack of clarity.
Teaching a strategy canvas
I designed a customised version of the business model canvas. One of the main anti-patterns to these is quickly filling them in. I have seen this several times, and the result is worse than doing the activity at all. This is because confidence can be given to poor-quality outputs even though they may, at worst, be wrong. Teaching a canvas means extensive study for each section, followed by activities designed to create high-quality outputs. I then worked with the leadership team to strengthen the strategy and create alignment.
Running a canvas workshop
It is very tempting to think that simply talking to people, especially when passing complex information, is an effective communication method. However, my experience has taught me that even if people think they have understood, they actually haven’t. So, to improve this, I ran a one-day workshop with over 100 people in large groups. Each was taught a canvas section and then asked to fill it in. The lack of alignment and understanding was fully demonstrated. Following the attempts by the teams the leadership would show the actual strategy.
The following benefits were achieved:
Strategic alignment across the leadership team
Teams understood the strategy and were able to link their lower-level work items to it
The strategy canvas was used with the rest of the business and helped to drive sales and marketing efforts
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