Asking the right questions is the biggest issue to challenge top management. Examples of crucial questions include: how long will our sources of competitive advantage survive in the face of technological shifts? How will changing customer and societal expectations affect our business models? What does it mean to be an international company when the benefits of international integration are under intense scrutiny?
“Management can never be completely comfortable with its strategic choices because the company is then at risk of missing the dynamics of change in their business environment”The statement above is about strategy, the most difficult topic in business today. Strategy is not about vision-mission-objectives-strategies.
Most decision-making in our organizations is still based on intuition and gut feeling. The aim of strategic competitive intelligence is critical thinking fueled by analysis and driven by perspectives over and above facts.Analysis is key and is a precondition for creating strategic intelligence. In analyzing data, we tend to discern patterns early, jump to conclusions, ignore contradictory information or take other mental shortcuts.
Strategy is about shaping the future. There is, however, no guarantee that the future will turn out the way you want. You can use strategy to figure out how to achieve your purpose and ambitions. You move between where you want to go (ends) and what you need to do to get there (means). A great strategy is the quickest route from means to ends to shape your future.