Strategy is more important than ever in a changing world. Waiting for someone else to give your company the “silver strategy bullet solution” is not the answer.

Executives need proximity to issues that impact their strategy so responses can be measured, meaningful and timely. To be close to issues – and solutions – you must be or have been part of the team that created them.

You must be the one who put the heavy-thinking in, participated in the debates, and signed off or agreed to the decisions around products, markets and capabilities that make up your strategy.  This process of strategic thinking must not be outsourced.
 

Consultants who prescribe strategic answers to your company’s problems don’t work for these 4 reasons.

1. 80+% of Gaps Holding Back your Business are Already Known by your people.

Yes – its true.
 

The core issues that stop a company from succeeding (i.e. profitable and sustained growth) are already known by the majority of people in your company. If the issues are known – you don’t need a prescriptive consultant repackaging the issues - you need your best people working collaboratively to prioritize and solve them.
 

Most insider secrets or success factors that are contained in consulting reports on your industry were generated from conversations with key people from your company to begin with.  

So why pay for what is already yours?

Recommendations from strategy consultants seem nice and neat but rarely get implemented because they are not authored or owned by the people in your company.

Caveat

Content Strategy Consultants (CSCs) and Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) are truly valuable when you and your executive team have identified data gaps – and can ask them very specific questions to get the information you need as an input to the decisions that must be made by your team.

2. The “Right” Answer May not be Right for Your Company

No one can replace your thinking and executive sweat when creating a strategy. It’s like saying I will skip the maternity phase but just enjoy the baby at the end.

 
In setting strategy, which is a blend of discipline and creativity, it is unwise to have someone take an off-the-shelf solution and tell you to copy it or recreate it for you business.  On paper it looks good, but in reality we know that what’s not written is the underlying culture, capabilities and company DNA, which ends up being the differentiator for success. So the strategy prescribed looks good, but in your gut you know it’s not the fit. The right answer is not the right answer for your company --- and your people know it

Caveat

There are strategic tools on how to compete e.g. PORTER – Low cost or differentiation, ANSOFF – Market or Product Focused Path, which are helpful to stimulate strategic thinking …but they are principles and do not prescribe your exact future. Only you can do this effectively for your company.

3. Strategic Prescription Creates Resentment with Key Players in your Firm

“I could have told them that” or “Let’s see them implement this”

I have yet to not hear these words from an executive that used a prescriptive strategy consultant.

Now these might not be the most mature responses, but executives and managers who have vested years in the business and know the issues want to be part of the solution. And while everyone puts on a brave face when the strategy is unveiled to the management team after 6 months of work and 1MM in fees, the reality is a slow smoldering burn of resentment awash in many parts of the organization.

The downside to prescriptive strategy consulting is that CEOs end up spending time politicking the strategy with the top executives whom they know are not so “hot” on the solution.  This approach takes more energy that just engaging those who are closest to the issues and need to make the changes for the company to really implement the strategy anyway.

Caveat

In every strategy that works some people need to be changed out because new skills and capabilities are needed. However, it critical to understand that you can avoid much of the anxiety around changes that come from setting and implementing a new strategy if you involve those that need to live it on a daily basis. 

4. Left Holding the Implementation Bag

As a proud owner of a new prescribed strategy, you flip through the 212-page PowerPoint deck, you get to the last page and it says, “all this can be yours for 1MM”. This ploy really irritates executives I have worked with. It reminds them of the “bate and switch” method. But many leaders go ahead and pay it to no avail because they are either two far into or don’t have the bite to say no.
 

If you outsource your strategic thinking, the changes required are not owned by the very people who need to be the ones to make your company change.   You need to involve your people in strategy development and implementation to get the results.

Caveat

There are great coaches, catalysts and project management methodologies that consultants can bring in and you should consider when implementing your strategy. But the distinction is they are helping package and process the activities that have been created by you….you still own the thinking.

For a tool on checking your company's strategy, see our Strategy Checklist: 

If you would like more information on how we work with companies using a powerful process approach to strategy that crafts collaboration and does not outsource your company’s need to make the big decisions themselves – please contact me to explore how we may be able to assist your company.