Strategy & Operations

Hi,

So back to doing what I dearly want to do but am not able to dedicate time to. Now onwards will try and surely part some time for this. Also, the topics will now be very professional so please bear with me on the same.

Ok, so now coming to the topic of the day. 2 very key words which drive any organisation is any industry. And as a matter of fact oft talked about words but then how deeply and truly are these words resonant to actions end up establishing where an organisation eventually ends up going.

Let's start with a basic scoping of these 2 words.

Strategy - In simple terms it is nothing but at a macro level the direction or path any organisation wants to take. It is planning in motion answering why and how.

Operations - In simple terms it's nothing but a micro level of how things happen. It is execution in motion answering when and what.

Sounds simple right, but then again it is these 2 key aspects where organisations message up. And even if one of them is not done the right way mishaps are bound to happen.

Interconnected words, worlds and key actions.

As a leader what becomes key is that how well are these 2 terms defined and their execution interconnected leads to simplification and hence the growth path. When we plot organisations on the business life cycle which is 

1. Initiation - Here is where strategy takes a key position. It dictates the path, answers right or wrong. It is where the focus of the leader needs to be on the right path selection, right execution and right focus. Organisations who are able to answer at least 2 of the 3 rights are those who progress while the rest fall by the way side. Operations here take a back seat as the set up happens and baby steps taken.

2. Growth - This is the stage where slowly strategy starts taking a macro picture and operations hits the road. The key here is how well is the set up to support operations and what kind of checks and balances have been put in place to drive operations. This is the stage where operations drives & controls output which helps establish an organisation's forte and face.

3. Peak - This is the interesting stage. When you reach here it implies that the strategy was rightly defined and the operations enabled it's execution to the T. What happens here is very interesting. Your initial strategy nears exhaustion and operations has now started to hit blocks, because overtime teething issues do appear. What and how a company does here is very important and listing below some relevant questions to the same.

   i. Based on the initial strategy where was the peak expected and was there a next step defined then for this time.

  ii. What is the scope present in the market to draw/redraw strategy for the next steps

 iii. How refined is the output of data from operations to draw out conclusions and guidance

 iv. Most importantly is there a proper segregation in the organisation leadership that drives strategy and operations

4. Dip - Here is the stage where the challenges are abound. Organisations have tasted success and peak but now do not know what has hit them. The same strategy that worked is now not giving results. Operations has hit a roadblock and the gates defined earlier have now become choked points.

Do you pivot or do you double down and loose more. Does pivot even give a meaningful way ahead. These are key questions which ultimately decide is there a path ahead or does this lead to the dead end.

And thus the cycle keeps repeating or it is an end of the road. 

What one needs to understand is that strategy is values, strategy defines competency, strategy defines identity and most importantly strategy is the core. Operations is where the mixture of values and competency happen. Strategy keeps the identity intact and the core running. 

Any successful organisation will have a strategy for every peak and operations defined to handle every growth and dip. They will have the right separation and mix of these 2 key aspects and that is where the path lies to success.