Strategy Management technician. 19,000+ smart followers. For an example of a strong nation, look where European cities are bombed every day by Dark Ages savages. Slava Ukraini! 🇺🇦
WELCOME TO SNIUKAVATICS ... What are those? Deep plunges of a Sniuk into wrong Strategy waters. In this example, an old and sterile framework about Strategy, called the "Strategy Diamond", which combines into a subjective mumbo-jumbo selection several components of the Strategy cycle: 1. "Arenas", something vaguely defined as extended markets where we'll do business. 2. "Differentiators", something about "winning", the mistaken stuff that suggests that business is a zero-sum game. It's not, except in a Blue Ocean context. These "arenas" and "differentiators" are in fact uninspired interpretations of the product-market-fit dimensions of the Strategy, along which we are defining our Strategic Positioning Mix of Strategic Choices /*. 3. "Vehicles", described as "ways to get there". Very confusing! There are clearer and more actionable ways to describe this: an Activity System, essential for turning our Strategic Choices into reality, and a Capabilities System, for having in place what is required to do that. All this resulting in a set of Strategic Gaps to be closed through the execution of our Strategy. 4. "Staging", suggested to be a "a sequence of moves". Could the authors of this "diamond" not have heard of Strategic Planning, which is about so much more that some sequenced "moves"? /** 5. "Economic Logic", about returns (profitability?). Well, that's not something that's part of the Strategy. It's about the Business Model that results from implementing our Strategy /^. We validate (or invalidate) our Strategy by estimating the sustainability of the resulting Business Model, but that model is not part of our Strategy. A big misunderstanding. Ok, that's it. There are more ways "to skin a ... thing", but some of them are more confusing and more harmful than others. Navigating through the weeds of Strategy approximation is unfortunately foggy. Why? On one hand, because Sniukavatics, like the example here, are polluting our social networks and business communities. On the other hand, because we are not alarmed by authors saying: "If you’re tired of the fluff and ready for a strategy that actually works, it’s time to embrace the Strategy Diamond". Which is the same as "Pick this fluff, it's better than other fluff!" What the heck! We're surrounded 😀 ... /* THE PRODUCT-MARKET FIT https://lnkd.in/ddkZCUzX STRATEGIC POSITIONING https://lnkd.in/d-f3Tza4 /** THE STRATEGY CYCLE https://lnkd.in/drwFzvyr /^ BUSINESS MODELS FOR OUR STRATEGIC CHOICES https://lnkd.in/dYcF5QHj The comics stuff: THE SNIUKULATIONS https://lnkd.in/d7GsqTcR THE "MASTER SUPERFICIALISTS" https://lnkd.in/d2jrRnDY THE VIRTUOUS GARBAGE CYCLE https://lnkd.in/di4P_KrG THE SO-POPULAR SHALLOW BOILERPLATES https://lnkd.in/dj6JeakU THE "INSTITUTES" https://lnkd.in/dp_ciKRP STRATEGY VS. PLANNING? https://lnkd.in/dNbPbUT7 A SURROGATE https://lnkd.in/d55DhbpS WHEN (STRATEGY) SIMPLICITY GETS TOXIC https://lnkd.in/dtARz6DV
Hahaha! I love your work! Many buzz words to make it look like it a better process but Sniukas have some great insights too, but not in this "ultimate success cheat"
Kent Thorén, PhD
1mo
I think your points about the Hambrick Fredricksson article's weaknesses are all valid. However. For people who do not have background and training in strategy, but still need to form and then operationalize strategies, it gives usable introductions into many areas they need to handle in a very condensed format. If the alternative is to study business models, blue oceans, strategic planning and all the other good things you mention from separate articles and books I fear that very few practitioners would get more than 5% throught the material. Not to mention the gigantic challenge they would have to mentally integrate it all. Probably most would instead choose to keep making strategic desicions without a minimum understanding of all the main components the article gives (that can also be shared by the other decision makets). Flawed as it is - and I would probably like you fill it with other theories - I dont know of any other published article that both covers strategic managemen broadly and manages to communicate something useful in each part. All of the academic articles are very narrow and all of the books seem excessively wordy....
Usman Yousaf
1mo
Marc Sniukas
Innovation Strategist | Workshop Facilitator | Futures-Thinking Practitioner
1moPeople over engineer strategy as a process and as a practice. It just boils down to foresight and leverage and having the brains/balls to act on those two, honestly.