Develop strategy first, then tinker with details

Russell Bell PHOTO/FILE

Every now and then you need to take a breath and contemplate. When you clear your head is the best time to determine your strategy and plot your next move.

Zenith Strategic Solutions was born out of such a period of contemplation when a couple of events sparked a moment of clarity and we went on to make a series of decisions which turned out to be the best we've ever made.

Again, it helps to have a mentor or trusted advisor to help your thinking by challenging you with the right questions. My mentor is a successful business person who brings independence and asks the tough questions.

I return from these mentoring sessions excited, invigorated and with advice which often has me refining my strategies.

The most recent piece of "advice gold" from my mentor was about focus and the importance of strategy over every other aspect of business. He put it to me in this way "what is the point of having the best vehicle for travel if you don't know where you are going, or (more importantly) why?"

The message: Strategy is key as well as having a direction.

I have to say that it is erroneous and dangerous to promote "components" of business as being of the highest importance without getting the strategy right first. To say strategy is of less or even equal importance is just plain wrong. It's like investing thousands of dollars in getting world class tyres on your car but then not knowing how to drive.

Many a business fad has gained momentum based on claims that, by investing in this one component or methodology, businesses would get exponential returns. I recall people getting excited about "Six Sigma", "Process Re-engineering" and even "TQM" (back when I started my career) - all of which have been supplanted. The list of other fads is long but the constant is that strategy is of highest significance and, without it, investment in tools such as these was found to not deliver the value promised by those espousing their importance.

In the end, it all comes back to the critical role of strategy and the journey of the entire business. The true power is in setting your strategic vision first and then ensuring your organisation has the structure and resources to achieve it. Direction and a purpose is paramount but it occurs before (and drives how) you get there. To borrow the car analogy again, once you know the destination and the terrain in front of you then you select the vehicle, the tyres, the tools and determine how they all combine to deliver you to your destination.

There is real power in strategy and getting it right. Know where you are going, and why, before tinkering with the peripherals.

Russell Bell's Zenith Strategic Solutions is a specialist Wanganui business advice and consultancy practice - 021 2442421.