Eaquals Prague 2018

1. Developing Coherent Strategy in
Turbulent Times
Chris Moore, MD Specialist Language Courses
www.specialistlanguagecourses.com

2. The times they are a-changin’
English everywhere
Low barriers to entry
Commoditisation
Market Consolidation
Political and economic instability
Buyer power
Technology

3. So, how to survive… and thrive?
Entrepreneurship without strategy leads to chaos.
David Collis, Harvard Business School
Entrepreneurship is the pursuit of opportunity beyond resources
controlled.
Howard Stevenson, Harvard Business School

4. What is strategy?
Strategy is about making choices, trade-offs; it’s about
deliberately choosing to be different.
- Michael Porter
If you don’t have a competitive advantage, don’t compete.
– Jack Welch

6. Growth opportunities - the Ansoff Matrix

7. The value proposition canvas
© Strategyzer AG

8. © Chaharbaghi & Lynch, 1999

9. The essence of strategy is
choosing to perform
activities differently than
rivals do.
Michael Porter

10. What does strategy do?
BUT..
Articulates a viable growth opportunity for an organisation to create
and capture value.
Enables an organisation to stay focused on the prize.
Aligns people, resources and activities within an organisation.
Allows an organisation to make the necessary commitments and create
processes to make it real.

11. “Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.” Mike Tyson

12. Strategy breakdowns
Internal
• Saying Yes to opportunities outside the strategic framework
• Strategy is not clear or clearly communicated to everyone
• Company depts are not aligned or on-board
• Momentum fades - ‘too busy’ culture, BAU
• Early failures, unwillingness to iterate and change
External
• Competitors copy you
• Disruptive products or models emerge
• Consumption patterns change
• Politics!

15. Introducing lean strategy

16. Define the strategic framework
• Strategy owner/manager
• Articulate and communicate it
• Align people and resources
• Commit

17. Refine the business model
Image © OSTERWALDER & PIGNEUR, Business Model Generation, Wiley, 2010

18. Lean strategy 1: Experiment
• Empowered local experimentation
• Explore innovations within strategic boundaries
• Predict change
• Keep ahead of market trends

19. Lean strategy 2: Measure
• Strategy provides a framework for…
• Defining metrics
• Talking to customers proactively
• Getting the right data
• Interpreting your market feedback
• Responding effectively

20. Lean strategy 3: Learn
• A clear strategic perspective enables organizations to effectively learn
from experiments.
• Organization then builds new internal capabilities
• If necessary, revise the original strategy.
• Then the process begins all over again.
An organization’s ability to learn and translate that learning into action
rapidly is the ultimate competitive advantage.
– Jack Welch

21. Lean strategy: review
• Review process – who, what, when, how often?
• Success/fail/change – what are the metrics? Are they the right ones?
• What’s in the way? What do you do about it?
• What do we do now?
• How do we communicate this?

23. Chris Moore
chris@specialistlanguagecourses.com
www.specialistlanguagecourses.com
Thoughts, questions, feedback?