I was recently talking to a senior manager of a manufacturing client. “This place is so frustrating,” he complained. “I have these ideas for the business and share them in the ExCo meetings and elsewhere. But I get no credit for them, only for them to resurface in a report or proposal from one of the directors. At that point everyone gets on board.”
Now, I’m sure that there are many ways that this manager could improve his impact and influencing skills, allowing him to move a little more centre-stage in the organisation’s strategy process. But that’s not my point today.
My point is this: the manager is succeeding. His ideas are gaining traction and making a difference.
As a very wise client once said to me, “Ideas are the currency of strategy. We should be big spenders in giving our ideas away.” In fact, we can measure our own success in strategy by counting the number of other people who present back to us our ideas as their own.
What does this mean for organisational design? Well, it means that you should be setting up forums and creating a culture where people feel encouraged, recognised and rewarded to develop and share their ideas to drive your organisation’s future success. It is the process of exchange that enables ideas to be developed, tested, challenged and improved.
How strong is the currency of strategy in your business? And how are you ensuring that it retains and enhances its value over time?
Off The Record: The End by The Beatles
And in the end
The love you take
Is equal to the love
You make
The Chief Officers’ Breakfast Club, 2023
The aim of the Breakfast Club is to provide senior and chief officers with a place to meet, gain new ideas and insights and learn from each other and our guest speakers. At the same time, the £500 membership fee has allowed Club to financially support 12 high-potential young athletes through our partner charity, SportsAid.
Over the past year, our special guests have included Dame Tanni Grey-Thompson, Sir Will Adderley (the deputy-chairman, ex-CEO and majority shareholder of Dunelm plc) and Ian Filby, formerly the CEO of DFS plc.
I will be sharing more details about the 2023 programme in the next few weeks, but if you’re an executive leader of your organization and would like to join the group, please contact me at stuart@morgancross.co.uk or call me on 01636-526111. It would be great to have you join!