Heads or Tails: Strategy Requires More Than A Coin Flip
Stephen Garchow
To be successful, companies must effectively prioritize their near-term business goals with addressing longer-term strategic issues. Executives understand that strategic issues can be devastating if disregarded, but there is a perception that their solution requires considerable time and resources. The daunting prospect of assembling a multidisciplinary team of experts from the myriad business functions required for a comprehensive analysis often leads executives to deprioritize strategic decision-making. This does not need to be the case. With the right tools, long-term issues can be addressed without hampering a company’s success in today’s fast-paced business environment.
This book is a focused, practical guide introducing the Lean Strategic Decision Model (LSDM). LSDM is designed to improve strategic decision effectiveness and efficiency using a simple 9-step process. The author explores many of the personal and group barriers to effective strategic decision-making and demonstrates how the LSDM overcomes them. Learn how to implement a simple process to improve your company’s strategic decision-making.
During my 35 years of business experience, I designed and implemented sales and marketing programs that drove revenue and profit growth. Accordingly, I immersed myself in operational decision-making opportunities, such as understanding customer product needs, implementing customer support programs, developing product launch plans and crafting messages that resonated with product users. But while carrying out these responsibilities, I noticed that many of the strategic questions I asked were never evaluated by the companies for which I worked. And in my estimation, failing to address these questions damaged these companies’ ability to maximize their opportunities.
Eventually I reached the conclusion that many companies excel at operational activity but fail at strategy formation. Upon reflection, I decided this situation is predictable. Since creating stockholder value is the primary measure for senior executive success, an activity like company strategy, which is unlikely to impact the company immediately, is often undervalued. Senior managers are like everyone else; they focus on the activity for which their bosses hold them accountable. The question is, “How to help executives formulate strategy in the compressed time frame demanded by their position?” I realized senior executives needed an approach that allowed them to fit strategy decisions around the operational decisions that consumed their day. That is the purpose of the Lean Strategic Decision Model (LSDM). This methodology provides a simple approach for driving effective strategic decisions using an efficient process. I have spent years fine-tuning this approach, culminating in an explanation of the LSDM in my first business book, Heads or Tails? Strategy requires more than a coin flip.
Currently, I lead my own strategy consulting business, Foresight Business Consulting, Inc., helping companies formulate winning strategies. My clients recognize my ability to quickly grasp the issues confronting them and to develop strategies that address their business issues. My consulting approach is to guide leadership teams to: analyze their situation, identify strategic alternatives, evaluate these solutions, and select the best approach for implementation. LSDM has been presented in numerous seminars and many companies are counted as experienced LSDM advocates.
