Answer Me This!

Ask the right questions, and you don't need all the answers!?!

Great questions illuminate the path to possibility.

Great Questions are often Always the Answer! 

Master the questions! And the answers will rush feverishly towards you.

So in the throes of terrific fear that you may only hear those questions for which you are in the position to find answers, I bid you these...a few great questions.

Answer Me This!

                                                           

In the November 2010 issue of Harvard Business Review an article by Robert Simons titled, “Stress-Test Your Strategy: The 7 Questions to Ask” was published. In preparation for unexpected business pressures an organization should assess their capacity to ‘Stay Calm and Carry On’ with an effective strategy. Here, from the article (Simons, 2010) are...

Three Questions:

1. What strategic boundaries have you set? Tell your staff what not to do. “People think focus means saying yes to the thing you’ve got to focus on. But that’s not what it means at all. It means saying no to the hundred other good ideas.” – Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Inc.

2. How committed are your employees to helping each other achieve shared organizational goals?

3. What critical performance variables are you tracking?

Reference: Simons, Robert. 2010. Stress-Test Your Strategy: The 7 Questions to Ask. Harvard Business Review. (November 2010) Pg. 93-100

The purpose of your information technology team is not just technical support. IT should be thought of as an enabler (and an accelerator!). It's a critical element that will allow you to successfully achieve your strategic goals.

Three Questions:

1. Does your IT Team clearly understand the purpose of your business (i.e. how your business creates value for customers)?

2. Have you identified the critical gaps between IT and the value creation system your company is building?

3. Do you know what IT capability your business needs to be successful in the future?

Scenario planning can help navigate your organization through uncertain times. Take the time to understand and consider the economic, technological, social and political forces that could shape your future.

Three Questions:

1. What could happen? (And perhaps ‘What won’t happen?’ – that might happen too!)

2. What would be the impact?

3. What are the implications?



Translating your strategy to operational terms is the most important aspect of strategy development. It also may be the hardest…

Three Questions:

1. To achieve my vision, how must the organization look to my customers?
2. To satisfy my customers, at which processes must the organization excel?

3. To achieve my vision, how must my organization learn and improve?

A sustainable organization is able to identify, strengthen and leverage social aspects where shared value between the organization and society exists. Business needs a healthy society, and society needs healthy business.

Three Questions:

1. How does your organization identify the communities your organization has an impact on and / or is dependent?

2. How does your organization determine areas for organizational involvement and / or interest?

3. How does your organization actively support and strengthen your key communities?

Read more: "How Good Is Your Vision? Can Your Competitors See Opportunities You Can't?"



Jim Collins discovered through his comprehensive research that many organizations struggle to make the large leap from “Good” to “Great”. Collins observed that great companies base their strategic decisions on a simple concept crystallized by asking three questions of the enterprise. Collins calls this the Hedgehog Concept.

Three Questions:

1. What can you be the best in the world at?

(This may not be something you’re currently engaged in. Also, consider what you can not be the best in the world at.)

2. What are you passionate about?

(Great companies have discovered what their passionate about.)

3. What is your economic driver?

(Discover what single measure - profit per x – that effectively generates sustained cash flow and profitability.)



The intersection of the three circles is then translated into the simple concept that guides your strategic activities.

Reference:

Collins, Jim. 2001. Good to Great. Harper Business.