DECEMBER 2017 / NO. 2
TAGS: INWARD-LOOKING, OUTWARD-LOOKING, PETER HINSSEN, THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW, BOARD

Inward-looking versus outward-looking mechanisms

“Why are big companies blind to seeing new opportunities (1)? Why are big companies eager to buy start-ups and why do they succeed in killing these start-ups in record time (2)? Why are big companies unable to make the right steps without outside support (3)? Why do big companies behave like ‘lame ducks’ facing disruption, new business models, and new competitors, and why are they unable to react rapidly? (4)”, Peter Hinssen, The Day after Tomorrow, 2017
“At IBM Europe, strategic competitive intelligence is aligned with every company function across the organization.”
The above four questions are the guiding principles in Peter Hinssen’s book “The Day after Tomorrow”. During the past five decades we have seen many similar publications. In essence, not much has changed within our companies, which are still guided by inward-looking control-mechanisms. This remains a key problem!
What we are missing are the outward-looking opportunity-mechanisms. Below, we explain the difference.
  • Inward-looking control-mechanisms include: Management Information Systems, Key performance Management, Control by KPIs, BSCs (balanced scorecards), BI-dashboards, Risk Management, Big Data analytics, Internal Audit Committees, Accountants, Boards of Directors or the Old Boys Network (friends with themselves). Who is ultimately accountable? Let’s be honest. No one is!
  • Outward-looking opportunity-mechanisms include: Strategy under Uncertainty, Strategy as Active Waiting, Where-to-Play/How-to-Win, Strategic War-Mapping, Grey Swan Analysis, Gray Rhino Analysis, Technology Play-Mapping, SPACE, the Company Radar Room and more. Who here is ultimately accountable? It’s the Tenth Man or Woman who leads the professional SEAL, SWAT, RRT Rapid Response Team, or MI7 Intelligence Teams. The Tenth Man or Woman challenges assumptions, leads with questions, and tells management the brutal truth!
We have a name for these outward-looking opportunity-mechanisms: strategic intelligence. The only place to position strategic intelligence in an organization is ‘on par’ with other functions that also report directly to the Board.
“The aim of strategic intelligence is simple: to deliver strategic intelligence that cannot be ignored to senior management”
“Strategic intelligence is critical for organizations to stay abreast of changing market conditions and to avoid costly mistakes. It is all about the proactive way of managing future-based risks in the dynamics of change in the external business environment”
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