"Wisdom - turning hindsight into foresight" Jason Ohler

Synopsis

5i presents a strategy launch workshop that enables executive teams to become more creative, flexible and responsive, key competencies in the current volatile business world. It combines lessons learnt from the ancient history of the battle of Flodden Field with your own business lessons, by using the most advanced workshop tools, in order for your team to efficiently develop and imaginative, yet appropriate strategy! Set in a Medieval Castle or a Georgian Stately Home this workshop launches your strategy with a memorable experience that will keep the team focused throughout the whole strategy process.

The Challenge

Most executives agree that developing strategy is one of their most important tasks, yet many companies get little value from their current strategy planning process. Recent research by McKinsey (The McKinsey Quarterly 2002, Number 2) confirmed this and stated "executives think that their strategic planning process yields few new ideas and it doesn't pay off".

For many the annual process has become a structured, almost automated, planning task. With most executive teams there is a belief that something good will come of it, but no one is sure how. Within many corporate organisations the focus has shifted from the quality of the idea to the financials associated with implementing it. While there is no doubt that implementation is vital, implementing average strategies will always deliver average results. Creativity, especially associated with improving the business idea, has been lost from the process!

Yet "preparing executive minds and increasing the level of innovation in the strategy" are the primary objectives of the first stage of the strategy planning process according to the McKinsey research. Doing these two effectively is the challenge, few manage to achieve both.

Learning the lessons of the past, both yours and others, while also developing the competencies associated with rapid decision-making and adaptive strategies are required. Increasing creativeness for a group can happen in lots of ways, but rarely happens by accident!

The Answer

5i have developed an executive workshop designed to launch the strategy process. It enables teams to develop more creative business ideas, prepares them to develop a comprehensive strategy and charts the initial steps.

The workshop starts on Flodden Field where a major battle occurred in 1513 between the English and the Scots. Whether on a fine sunny day, or a damp drizzle, as was experienced on September 9th when the battle was fought, the delegate cannot fail to sense the history and gain an insight into the decisions that made it. The battle highlights the best and worst of strategy and planning, as well as illustrating the need to develop adaptive strategy. The lessons learnt at Flodden have influenced military and business thinking for hundreds of years and are still relevant today. "Being there" makes learning very real and incredibly memorable.

The group then studies the lessons of its corporate past, the second part of turning "hindsight into foresight". Again the workshop technology is used to combine the ancient learning from the battle with modern corporate learning. The team are now prepared and are ready to increase their level of creativity!

The strategy workshop is a good example of being adaptive. Individuals and teams become creative in different ways. A series of activities and experiential learning has been arranged to suit each creative style. The activities range from the artistic to the dramatic, from painting through deer tracking with cameras to the exhilarating helicopter team activities. By spending time understanding your team we can design activities that maximise their creativeness.

Interspersed with the activities aimed at increasing creativity the team will work with the workshop technology on a number of exercises aimed at applying the creativity in the development of practical business ideas. There are a number of strategy idea generation sessions, the best idea is not always the first generated. When the group is ready, and only then, they move to the final stage of the workshop, choosing the ideas to develop and planning the way forward. Each group leaves with a tangible action plan.

The workshop runs over 2 incredibly intensive days or 3 days, which allows more time for contemplation. The team leaves energised, and enthused with an action plan to implement its creative strategy. The value of your investment of time and in the workshop is returned many times by the increased value of your strategy. Then comes the piece most organisations "do well", or think they do, the "planning task". If you don't plan well don't worry, we have other solutions to help!

Frequently Asked Questions

When should we do this workshop? - Ideally 3 - 6 months before the new strategy needs to be implemented. This will give the team time to refine the idea and make it real.

Who should we include? - Anyone who will play a major role in developing the strategy, some organisations also like to include those who will play a major role in implementing the strategy. Group sizes range from 6 - 15, but could be more.

How many days should we take? There is tremendous value in giving the team extra time to think and refine their ideas, so wherever possible we advise the 3 day option. However, we recognise that some executive teams cannot spare three working days. Possible solutions are the intensive 2 day programme, or running a workshop on part of the weekend.

What activities should we include? Prior to the workshop we'll assess the delegates, and your objectives for the workshop, in order to develop the best mix of activities for your group. This could result in some of the group undertaking activities in smaller teams.

What's next? The workshop is the launch pad into the strategy development programme. Other workshops are available to support the group in refining the strategy, developing a balanced scorecard (a means of implementing the strategy) and launching initiatives.