STRATEGY TOOLS FOR YOUR OWN GOAL SETTING

Back in the 1980’Michel Robert wrote a fabulous, simple guide to corporate planning called The Strategist CEO. Essentially, it’s a dream-setting process that asks company managers to let go of their day-to-day business constraints and envision what their company or division should be.  Interestingly, if various management teams verbalize radically different visions, then their company has no cohesive strategy. Michel Robert offers a process that is qualitative first, and then becomes metrically driven. It’s a simple read with an effective process to help managers develop a lasting strategy:

1. What’s your current business concept? (Examples: BMW–the ultimate driving machine, Mercedes Benz—the best engineered car in the world, etc.)
2. What’s your driving force?  (Example: do you make cars or motors like Honda?)
3. What factors are propelling you to change and why? (Internal forces—employees, facilities, location, etc. Competitive forces—new and old opponents. External forces such as government legislation, gas prices and alternative fuels, etc.)
4. What’s your tentative new business concept? (Hint—this has nothing to do with time frames, budget parameters, capabilities etc.)
5. How does it compare to your current model in terms of internal, competitive and external issues? (Again, this is a qualitative comparison.)
6. If the new business concept is a winning idea, then the questions of how achievable it can be are reviewed. (Time frame, budget parameters, resources.)
7. Final quarterly and annual plans can be tailored to the new business concept.  If the future of the company does NOT include some current product lines or divisions, then they need to be sold off or harvested. The goal is 100% focus on a transformation every single employee. There isn’t an employee within BMW who isn’t acutely aware of the company’s business concept and what their role needs to be within this scope.

Keep in mind that the above process is great for getting entire management teams to take ownership and embrace their new strategies. Now review this process with regard to how you live today. How many times do you hear someone say, “I just don’t have any time for myself!” What dreams are you holding back?  What activities in your life dilute you from becoming self-actualized? Stay tuned for a personal strategy to help you develop a tentative life concept so that you can live life in crescendo.