An Excellent Definition of Strategy

May 17, 2011

In the rush of life’s frenetic pace, I occasionally overlook moments of significance. Those fleeting times are sometimes ignored because of my inattention, or perhaps because I find it easy to overlook things that appear fairly simple.

Recently, I almost rushed past the wisdom shared by one of the most brilliant strategic thinkers I know. I had the privilege of spending an hour in the office of my friend David Westbrook, senior vice president of strategy and innovation at Children’s Mercy Hospital here in Kansas City. He was helping me to brainstorm contingency plans for a major business change looming on the horizon.

In the course of our conversation, he softly said, “You know, strategy is knowing where you are going and knowing how you’ll get there.”

He then moved, but not before I jotted down what he said. In fact, during our time together I took several pages of notes and my only frustration was that David’s mind moved faster than did my expensive fountain pen.

Several days later that simple yet profound statement kept echoing in my mind. I’ve read many books, articles and blogs about corporate strategy. I’ve attended workshops and even participated in roundtable discussions on the topic. Yet I’ve never heard strategy defined in such a simple, elegant way.

For the benefit of anyone wanting to be more strategic, allow me to repeat David’s gem of wisdom:

Strategy is knowing where you are going and knowing how you’ll get there.

Reflect on the relevance of that sentence and ask, “Do I know where I’m going? Do I know how I’ll get there?”

Tactics can wait. First, however, make sure your strategy is clear.

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Posted by Duane Hallock

Six Traits of People I Like Working With

May 13, 2011

Any success I might claim as a marketing and communications professional would necessarily include a lengthy and sincere list of acknowledgements. The English poet John Donne observed, “No man is an island.” In other words, we are all interdependent. Other people always contribute to our success.

In my work, I am most productive when I am surrounded by people who are:

  1. Grateful. They are glad to be alive and they find things to be thankful for. With an abundance mindset, they focus on what they have rather than obsessing on their deficits.
  2. Strategic. They think before they act. Before succumbing to the gravitational pull of tactics, they think things through in a purposeful way. They wrestle with questions that begin with the word why?
  3. Competent. Once they see the big picture and understand why something is important, they know what to do and how to do it.
  4. Curious. Curiosity never killed anyone. I love interacting with those who think with a beginner’s mind. They are the antithesis of so-called experts who already know the right (and only) way to do something.
  5. Creative. With a curious mind, creative people look at things differently. They see patterns that others miss. They are able to juxtapose existing ideas in a way that creates something new.
  6. Innovative. The Harvard professor Theodore Levitt put it this way:  “Creativity thinks up new things.  Innovation does new things. There is really no shortage of creativity or of creative people in business.  The shortage is of innovators.  The major problem is that so called “creative” people often pass on to others the responsibility for getting down to brass tacks.  They have plenty of ideas but little business-like follow-through.  They themselves are the bottleneck.  They make none of the right kind of effort to help their ideas get a hearing and a try.”

On the other hand…

Occasionally I encounter individuals who drain my energy and erode my effectiveness. They are:

  1. Victims. When something goes wrong, it’s never their fault. Someone else is to blame. They’ve had bad luck and were the unfortunate victims of circumstances. They feel powerless, living their lives in a reactive rather than a proactive mode.
  2. Dinosaurs. They remember the good old days when things were much better. (I really think they just have very selective memories.) The world changes too fast to accommodate those who cling to the status quo, refusing to adapt to the climate changes.
  3. Devil’s Advocates. They don’t move conversations forward, though they try to appear intelligent with their searing questions. They hinder progress. They are usually part of the problem, not the solution.
So, that’s my list. What’s on yours?

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Posted by Duane Hallock