Beware strategy tools

I'm still not exactly sure what i will find when I finish my research on 'competent' strategists but from a pretty long and in-depth immersion in the literature I doubt I'm going to find that they all heavily rely on the strategic management tools that have been taught since the 1980's.

And certainly it isn't the case that they don't have a place as they absolutely do but they need to be used in association with good, critical thinking  and not a substitute for it.

By way of analogy (I love analogies) you can think of the strategy tools as the tools that a yachting crew have available to them when they are sailing in a competition.  They may have weather and sea forecasts, local knowledge of area, tools for working out how fast other boats are going and any number of other tools at their disposal.  BUT........  At the end of all that the decision has not been made until a human being decides what all that means and what we need to do about it.

The tools provide clues and queues but they are aspects of the thinking process and not the thinking process it self.  I believe that too much strategy teaching infers that their is a right answer and if you apply the appropriate tools then the answer will be self-evident (i.e. no thinking required) and that is just wrong.

The method of teaching itself - the case study - leaves this impression as we know what the right answer is and therefore it should have been able to be seen at the time if those involved could only apply the correct techniques - again this logic is just plain wonky.

So beware strategists bearing tools, they are Greeks bearing gifts............

Comments

  1. AnonymousDecember 14, 2012 at 4:49 AM

    I really liked your blog, appreciate the great information about Business Strategy.
    many thanks...
    Business Strategy

    ReplyDelete
  2. Roger McEwanDecember 17, 2012 at 11:28 AM

    Thanks for the kind comment, I haven't really been keeping this blog up to date as the pressure from the PhD gets increased though I have learned some very interesting stuff about strategy in my travels which I will share over time.

    Roger

    ReplyDelete

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