Strategy
What befalls the earth befalls all the sons and daughters of earth.
This we know, the earth does not belong to man, man belongs to the earth.
All things are connected like the blood that unites us all.
Man did not weave the web of life, he is merely a strand in it.
Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself.
Chief Seattle
Address to U.S. Congress, 1852
Climate change, artificial intelligence, the internet of things (IoT), autonomous vehicles and apps for everything are becoming real considerations for strategic planning in all organizations. Gigabytes of data have given way to Terabytes and Petabytes while most of us are challenged to clear our email inboxes and pay attention to social media. Technological advances have been exceeding the rate of institutional and societal change for two decades so predicting how technology — and nature — will impact our organizations is becoming increasingly challenging.
People, teams, organizations and institutions are dealing with accelerated and compressed change due largely to advances in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) that has transformed the way that we think about our future — when we have the time to think about our future. With everything changing so quickly at an unprecedented pace, why bother engaging in strategic planning? Our influence over the future may be no more impactful than a surfer trying to change the direction of the 15-foot wave that she is riding. But, as she scans the horizon, she can determine which wave to ride as well as her point of entry. New circumstances require new ways of thinking and acting — Whitesell & Company can help.
Whitesell & Company separates the functions of strategy and planning because although they intersect, strategy requires a leadership mindset that is informed by past experience, accumulated knowledge and an appetite for risk. Leaders seek valid, real-time information to mitigate risk such as the information provided by a 360° situational analysis and “ground truth." Planning requires a different skill set. Planning is a management function and is about the execution of strategy and focuses on goals, objectives, contingencies, problem-solving and decision-making. Both strategy and planning operate in sync and within the context of Mission, Values and Vision — why does our organization exist, where are we going and how are we going to get there?
Ground Truth: The methodology used to comprehend, assess and evaluate an organization, system, program or market. People inform the strategy by providing the "ground truth" through their individual, functional or team’s lens. Ground truth that is collected through a semi-structured interview process constitutes what people believe is (or has been) happening. When their information is consistent with data points, facts and other evidence-based corroboration, their “view” provides a powerful and often accurate perception of reality. Inconsistency between the ground truth and the data-based evidence can also be informative and valuable to the initiative for very different reasons.
Planning requires skill, tenacity, discipline, flexibility and even courage. Control in a world of shifting circumstances is just an illusion. In Saint Exupéry’s The Little Prince (1943), the King claims that he has the power to order the sunrise and sunset but only at specific times of the day. The lesson: the only excuse for not being humbled by the daunting task of planning a future is either ignorance or hubris. Whitesell & Company excels at helping organizations stay agile, focused and exceptional.
Whitesell & Company has developed a suite of organizational approaches, techniques and tools to help leaders and managers successfully engage the challenge of creating a sustainable future through robust strategy development and planning.
Case Studies - Strategy
Culture eats strategy for breakfast.
Peter Drucker