Strategy: Business Performance Cell 1 (of 7)

Reimagining Strategy: Leading Through Uncertainty

This article is part-two of an 11-part series and represents an extract of Design Advisory's Business Performance and Transformation Handbook.

Organisations must be prepared and equipped to navigate increasingly complex environments to maintain competitive edge and ensure long-term sustainability.

For an organisation to deliver quality outcomes, however those outcomes are defined, it must begin with a healthy and vibrant strategy at its foundation. As we delve deeper into this blog series on business performance and organisational transformation, it will become abundantly clear that the majority of issues arise from a lack of alignment to strategy, or that the strategy has been poorly crafted.

Let the games begin.

At the highest and simplest level we ask the degree to which you believe the following statement:

Our Vision and Mission are emotive and defined, with key stakeholders aligned and able to articulate them, while projects and operations are clearly pointed to their realisation.

While strategy is so much more than this, we’ve found it a great indicator for maturity across the spectrum, as well as being an easy method to easily identify differing views.

Actions to Excellence

Strategy development is not a linear process, but one of collecting threads to weave together, tightening and adjusting. However, for the purpose of this article a sequence must be penned. As we explore, a simple format to think about is; where to play, and how to win.

1. Using First Principles to Craft an Emotive Vision and Compelling Mission

   
   

   Before diving into action, it’s immensely valuable to confirm, reframe or adapt your Vision and Mission. To ensure you create the freedom to think beyond your current offer, strip it back to first principles.

   
   

   Why do we exist? For a compelling Mission, focus on your organisation’s core purpose today, who you serve, what you deliver, and the value you create. Use clear, simple language that resonates with both hearts and minds.

   
   

   Where are we going? To craft an emotive Vision, imagine the future you want to create, one that inspires passion and aligns with your organisation’s purpose. Keep it bold, aspirational, yet simple and easy to communicate.

   
   

   Depending on the degree of change, the risk management activities and stakeholder journey will vary, but it takes strong leadership to stimulate positively-framed change to work with staff, clients and external stakeholders ensuring clarity and consistency of message on the why.

   
   

   There are different levels of strategy depending on the complexity of organisation. A company with multiple underlying business lines should develop a corporate strategy to sit over the top of each business strategy to ensure resource allocation is optimised, while a business with one integrated corporate and business strategy.

   
   

   And as we know to win in the strategy game doesn’t end with its definition. It must be embedded across the business to ensure operations and projects are all aligned to its realisation.

   
   

2. Check Your Position in the Surrounding Terrain

   
   

   So now we know why we exist and where we’re going, we must critically examine our surrounding environment and take stock of our resources and constraints; considering how we might engage our spheres of influence to expand resources and shift constraints.

   
   

   Accumulating data on our addressable market, assessing players and trends can be challenging. It’s important to use frameworks to theme these threats and opportunities, and to ensure a variety of perspectives are used as inputs. Not to suggest each have equal weighting, but to understand alternate perspectives will ensure a stronger more informed position to journey from.

   
   

   Don't wait for perfect information. Organisations that embrace probabilistic thinking, based on likelihoods rather than certainties, can move faster and mitigate risk more effectively.

   
   

   On your journey, the terrain will often change, so establishing a system for ongoing market intelligence, including feedback loops from customers, partners, and even competitors, allows for real-time recalibration and refocusing on your next best step.

   
   

3. Setting Ambitious Targets

   
   

   With an understanding of the current market position and assumptions on market trends, a limited number of ambitious goals should be set to ensure operations and project efforts are clearly aligned to the organisational objectives.

   
   

   Ambitious goals should scare you a little. Some may ask ‘who are you to think you can achieve that’. But they should not be unrealistic. They should balance boldness and feasibility.

   
   

   When establishing the goals, leadership should have an idea of how they will be achieved, but the definition and planning should be developed by the requisite teams.

   Consider how targets can be used to inspire and energise teams rather than intimidate them.

   
   

   Like all goals, these should follow the SMART format and include RACI attributes.

   
   

4. What Would Have to be True

   
   

   The next step in any transformative journey is to conduct a thorough assessment of what is required to successfully achieve the strategic objectives. One of the most powerful and structured ways to approach this is by asking a simple but profound question:

   
   

   "What would have to be true for us to achieve these goals?"

   
   

   This question shifts the conversation from barriers and constraints to possibilities and solutions. Instead of defaulting to why something won’t work, it forces leadership and teams to explore the specific conditions, resources, and capabilities that must be in place to succeed.

   
   

   To avoid generating a scattered list of random ideas, a structured approach is essential. Using the RADAR 7 Performance Cells to aggregate insights allows for a coherent, systematic capture of necessary enablers across critical business dimensions.

These activities shouldn’t be confined to the boardroom. Engaging multiple layers of the organisation enhances buy-in, alignment, and execution effectiveness. While some organisations choose to conduct this exercise at the Board and Executive levels, others have included the Senior Leadership Team and better yet, frontline employees. The broader the engagement, the greater the commitment, innovation, and problem-solving potential.

Data shows that transformations where employees feel involved in shaping the journey outperform those where change is simply dictated from the top. Engagement fosters ownership, which translates into higher adoption rates and better execution.

Strategy should not change often. It should be longterm and shouldn't reference current themes or trends. If you find it becomes dated, you've likely included tactical elements. Strip it back to the core. Make it emotive. Ensure it's powerful.

Tools and Templates

1. Vision, Mission and Values Framework

2. SWOT Analysis

3. Porter’s Five Forces

4. PESTLE Analysis

5. Balanced Scorecard

6. Blue Ocean Strategy Canvas

7. McKinsey 7s Framework

8. Scenario Planning

9. Ansoff Matrix

10. Business Model Canvas

Case Study:

Incorporating AI into Organisational Strategy

The rapid evolution of artificial intelligence (AI) has driven organisations to refresh their strategies, embedding AI into decision-making, operations, and value creation. No longer just a tool, AI has become a strategic imperative, reshaping industries and competitive landscapes.

One major shift has been in enhancing customer experience. Organisations are using AI-powered systems to deliver personalised recommendations, improve customer service, and predict consumer needs. This has set new standards for engagement, with CRM systems leveraging AI to create tailored marketing campaigns and real-time support solutions.

AI has also revolutionised operational efficiency. In sectors like manufacturing and logistics, predictive maintenance tools and resource optimisation models have reduced costs and downtime. By adopting data-driven processes, organisations are transforming traditional workflows into proactive and efficient systems.

Another key focus is strategic decision-making. AI-driven analytics are helping companies forecast trends, assess risks, and identify opportunities. This has enabled businesses to adapt swiftly to changing market conditions, ensuring competitive advantage.

To support AI integration, organisations are investing in upskilling their workforce while addressing ethical and regulatory concerns. These refreshed strategies highlight AI’s role in driving innovation, agility, and sustainable growth in today’s digital economy.

Deploying the RADAR Protocol across the 7 Performance Cells has been a game changer for organisations. We hope this article has offered some new perspectives or reminders on the importance of Strategy in the context of transformation.

If you'd like to explore more, contact us for a conversation on developing these deliverables in the context of your organisation, no matter how big or small, no matter the sector you operate in, or the region you're based.

And if you'd like to explore more on your own or with your team, here are some recommendations for further reading from the team at Design Advisory.

• Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap...and Others Don't

  Authored by Jim Collins, this book examines why some companies transition from average to exceptional performance, identifying key strategic factors that contribute to sustained success.

  
  

• Blue Ocean Strategy: How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Make the Competition Irrelevant

  Written by W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne, this work introduces the concept of creating 'blue oceans'—untapped market spaces ripe for innovation—challenging companies to break away from saturated markets.

  
  

• Playing to Win: How Strategy Really Works

  A.G. Lafley and Roger L. Martin provide an insider's perspective on strategic decision-making, sharing practical frameworks used to drive Procter & Gamble's success.