Break the rules! Ignore the next logical step! Do not inspire your strategies from titans of the past! Be radical in your approach, ruthless regarding the scope of what you want to provide! And you may change the world.
Well, changing the world is a high target to hit, if we are being honest. But you will inflict change. And create differentiators that will be impossible to replicate by your competition. It will be tough to convince the market that what you propose is feasible, because “it’s not the way things are done”. But this courageous approach, this revolutionary approach, will also act like rocket fuel for your idea and plan. And the good news is, in the world we live in today, revolutionaries are loved. Fought by the industry incumbents but loved by the world. Look at Tesla, Revolut, the crypto industry, automation. Projects born by people that were able to “go into the future and look back” to see what needs to be changed, and in what way. Not by looking where we are and what would be the next safe, logical, and expected step. After the horse and carriage came the automobile, after the post office came the internet, after banks came decentralized blockchain. What’s next?
On a lower scale, the same principle can be applied to your strategy making. Instead of drawing and deciding the strategy between the top management of the company, look for and involve the creative revolutionaries that you probably employ (but not use to their full potential). Instead of communicating the PLAN, involve people in drawing it – they will make it a reality for you and them alike. Don’t look only at your challenge, see the industry’s challenges, and build your strategy aiming high.
Have no respect for the status quo! Overturn the order! Dream big!
Viva la revolucion!
*inspired by Gary Hamel’s 1996 “Strategy as a revolution”