Management Innovation

Discovering the new that fits the emerging Future.

 Management tools ‘Unfit for Purpose’

Although we are less and less tethered to the patterns of the past we continue (as Marshall McLuhan quipped), to “drive into the future using only our rear-view mirror.”

It served us well when the pace of change was relatively slow and new ideas and technologies took years to develop. However, there is no more ‘tweak’ left in our traditional management tools; they are increasingly unfit for purpose.

We now operate in the emerging future…one in which complexity and the pace of change are growing exponentially.

However, building insight, setting strategy and making decisions in complex environments is different.

Discovering the ‘Right Fit’

Our management model must be the ‘right fit’ for operating in a VUCA World. From it flows management principles and competencies that favour action and experimentation, innovation and new ways of engaging people.

Adhocracy mgmt

 

When all around us is moving and shifting we need to root ourselves and our organizations in purpose.

We favour a shift toward Adhocracy (Of Purpose) as a management model in which:

The focus is on action; activities are coordinated around challenges and opportunities; people are motivated intrinsically (striving for purpose and surmounting challenges); and, strategic decisions are made through experimentation and the power of what works.

Strategy as Execution

General Helmuth von Moltke famously noted “No plan survives first contact with the enemy.”

In business, long term plans do not work in complex environments because we cannot predict that far out. Sure, there is a place for planning but dependent upon the context.

Thinking of Strategy as a plan in two phases…development and execution…no longer fits the complexity we face. Strategy needs a dynamic focus; in which, strategy formulation and execution are a “distinction without a difference.”

 

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 Strategic decisions are made through ‘experimenting forward’. Indeed, shifting the decision point reduces risk and cost while increasing agility and profitable action.

For larger organizations, strategy execution is about balancing alignment, autonomy and adaption through experimenting forward.

We provide fresh management tools that improve insight, strategy and decision making.