Strategy as an act of creativity

And it implies mistakes and failures

And it implies mistakes and failures

Some years ago, I helped a large company formulate a new long-term strategy. The team did a great job, and the result of it — the meticulously elaborated strategic presentation — was presented to the board of directors. I was not invited to the meeting, but the CEO called me in the evening. He was very upset and disappointed — the strategic concept was turned down on the grounds that the team’s hypotheses about the future trends seemed “inconclusive” to the board members.

There is an old joke. What is the likelihood that today you’ll turn around the corner and meet a dinosaur? The “right” answer is 50% — you will either meet it or not.

Small businesses leaders can, generally speaking, do whatever they want. Typically, such companies are managed by founders, who make all the crucial decisions, and, at the same time, they are the ones who will pay for every mistake at the end of the day. But as soon as investors and/or a board of directors appear, a tea…