Choosing the Right Strategy: From Mapping to Execution
How often are strategic initiatives launched based on gut feeling, industry trends, or the allure of a new framework, only to falter during execution? A common reason is the failure to develop sufficient situational awareness before deciding how to act. Effective strategy isn't about adopting a universal playbook; it's about understanding the specific landscape and making context-appropriate choices.
Gaining Awareness: The Power of Mapping
Before deciding on a direction, we must understand the terrain. Tools like Wardley Maps provide a powerful way to visualize the value chain, understand user needs, map out the components required to meet those needs, and assess the evolutionary stage of each component (from genesis to commodity). Mapping helps move conversations from abstract goals to concrete discussions about dependencies, potential bottlenecks, and areas ripe for intervention. It forces us to ask: What does the landscape look like? Where are our users? What capabilities do we need? How mature are those capabilities?
From Awareness to Choice: Contextual Plays
Once we have a map, strategic choices become clearer and more deliberate. The map reveals that different parts of the landscape demand different approaches. A nascent, uncertain component in genesis might require in-house experimentation and agile development. A well-understood, stable commodity component might be best outsourced or consumed as a utility service. Trying to apply the same methods (e.g., agile development for a commodity, or rigid six-sigma processes for something novel) across the board is inefficient and often counterproductive. Mapping allows us to identify and apply context-specific strategic plays based on the evolutionary stage and characteristics of each component.
Execution with Purpose: Where Frameworks Fit
This is where execution frameworks like Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) come in – but crucially, after the strategic choices have been made based on situational awareness. OKRs are a tool for alignment and focused execution, not a replacement for strategy itself. If mapping reveals a need to rapidly develop a new capability (a "Pioneer" activity), OKRs can help align teams around that specific, context-driven goal. If the strategy involves optimizing an existing, well-understood process ("Town Planner" activity), OKRs might focus on efficiency metrics. Using OKRs without the underlying situational awareness derived from mapping risks focusing execution efforts on the wrong things, or applying the wrong methods.
The Strategic Cycle
Effective strategy is a dynamic cycle: develop situational awareness (map), make context-appropriate choices (where and how to act), and then execute with focus (using appropriate tools like OKRs where they fit). Neglecting the initial awareness phase leads to flawed choices and wasted execution effort. By embracing mapping and contextual thinking, organizations can move beyond generic approaches and build strategies that are not only ambitious but also grounded in the reality of their specific landscape.