Simple Enterprise Strategy

One of the challenges my General Manager put on my plate, was to tell a simple story, as simply as possible, about the essence of doing Enterprise Strategy. 

Here is what I ended up with:

The way I told the story is …

• We use scenarios to scope meaningful chunks of change (vs. boil the ocean)
• Big scenarios are actually chunks of organizational change.
• We drive a program of change using a repeatable formula: Current State, the desired Future State, the Gaps, the ROI, and the Roadmap for Business Capabilities, People Capabilities, and Technology Capabilities.
• The value is in the change, and this connects business and IT in a significant and meaningful way.

He loved it.

I elaborated.  

I shared a simple Workstream Frame to show how when we drive Enterprise Strategy, we can use the following canvas as our backdrop:

It’s a simple map but it helps chunk up and think about how you are making the changes:

• Program Governance – This is the space of operational excellence and governance.
• Business Value – This is where the business-led conversations and business-led changes flow.
• IT People/Process – From a pragmatic perspective, this is where IT-led conversations, and changes to IT people and process happen.
• Technology – This is where the fundamental technology changes happen – the IT platform for the business.  Again, dominantly IT-led conversations.

To fully appreciate the simplicity above, below is what I first walked my General Manager through, and he said, while he could appreciate the essence of it, it was too complex:

At the end of the day, I think he was right, and I was glad that he pushed me to find a simpler story and to be able to tell it quickly at the whiteboard.

When people see that it’s all about driving a chunk of organizational change, and that it’s by changing the business, people, and technology capabilities, light-bulbs go off, and people get excited by how they can reshape the future of their Enterprise story, through Enterprise Strategy.

You Might Also Like

Cloud Benefits for Business Leaders
Cloud User Stories for Business and IT Leaders
Dual-Speed IT
How To Connect Business and IT
The Power of Business Scenarios for Digital Transformation