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Reflecting on the Past Year and Strategizing for the New Year

In the midst of the chaos that comes with end-of-year activities, it’s crucial to take a moment to look back on the past year and plan for the future. Ginni Rometty, former CEO of IBM, posed three important questions to her management team during their performance assessment:

    1. What lessons have you learned this year?
    1. How were those lessons learned? Has anything been learned from failure?
    1. What is your learning plan for the coming year?

These questions are designed to bring attention to valuable insights that can lead to new value within the organization. It’s essential to move away from routine activities and focus on tangible results.

Strategic Thinking with an Insight Network

Over the past year, the ‘Insight Initiative’ has been implemented in various organizations, consisting of three key components:

1. Conscience: Educating managers about the significance of insights for future success and providing tools for generating these insights.

2. Responsibility: Holding leaders accountable for extracting three to five insights from their teams every quarter.

3. Action: Establishing a virtual insight network within the company to merge and share new insights regularly, fostering a culture of continuous learning.

When evaluating a company’s strategy, consider the following three factors:

Understanding a Strategic Plan

1. Strategic direction: Research indicates that employees are more likely to commit to a leader who sets clear strategic direction. This involves engaging the team in ongoing strategy discussions to define top goals, objectives, and strategies. A concise strategic blueprint should be developed and communicated to guide daily activities.

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Utilize tools like StrategyPrint to maintain a repository of strategic insights and action plans. Without a clear strategic direction, navigating business operations is akin to driving blindly on a dark, winding road.

Creating Competitive Advantage

2. Competitive advantage: Companies with well-defined strategies outperform competitors significantly. Competitive advantage stems from delivering superior value through unique capabilities and activities. Assess your capabilities against competitors to leverage strengths and drive differentiation.

Gain insights through exercises like ‘Strategic Competitive Approaches’ to identify areas for competitive advantage and growth.

Integrating Innovation into Strategy

3. Profitable growth: Success in business is measured by profitability, often stemming from innovation and strategic planning. Discover new value areas through exercises like the Value Mining Matrix to innovate and meet evolving customer needs.

Embrace new thinking and approaches for growth in the new year. Challenge your team to think differently and drive innovation.

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