Strategy Safari: Book Insights and Applications
This book is a must-read if you want to know more about how different people think and operate. Mintzberg’s Strategy Safari clarifies the trade-offs of different schools while also providing insight into what process improvement means for an organization or individual looking in depth at their own strategy formulation processes.
Strategic management is like a safari. It’s an area of study that is vast, often daunting, and full of unknown animals waiting to be discovered. But with the help of a guide (in this case, me), you can make your way through the wilds of strategic planning and emerge victorious. In this post, I’ll introduce you to some of the book’s key concepts in strategic management and show how they can help you improve your business. So if you’re ready for an adventure, let’s get started!
Design School Strategy Methodology
Design school is a unique approach to strategic management that has been gaining popularity in recent years. Unlike other management styles, design school focuses on generating new ideas and solutions. This is accomplished by using the SWOT model, which stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. The SWOT model helps managers to identify the critical areas of their business that need improvement. By considering both the internal and external factors affecting the industry, design school provides a comprehensive approach to strategy development. In addition, Design school also emphasizes the importance of social responsibility and values-based management. As more businesses begin to adopt this innovative approach to strategic management, Design school is likely to become even more well-known in the years to come.
SWOT Analysis
The Planning School
The Design School of strategic thought emphasizes the importance of planning and designing a comprehensive strategy before taking any action. This approach is based on the belief that a well-defined plan will lead to better results than simply reacting to events as they occur. However, the Design School also acknowledges that all situational aspects be considered before making any decisions, hence its prescriptive nature. This holistic approach often leads to complex strategies that can be difficult to implement, but the Design school argues that the benefits outweigh the costs. In many cases, the Design school’s approach is similar to that of the Planning school, which also divides the SWOT model into distinct steps and emphasizes careful analysis before taking action. However, the Design school’s emphasis on creativity and originality sets it apart from other prescriptive approaches.
In the business world, there are always new problems to solve and new goals to achieve. For this reason, it is essential to have a reliable method for creating and implementing solutions. The planning school of thought provides just such a method. This approach puts a strong emphasis on analysis and planning to embed innovation into existing institutions. In other words, the planning school works to develop clear plans that can be reality.
There are three steps to this process: first, conducting a thorough analysis of the problem at hand; second, developing a plan to address the situation; and finally, working out the steps that people in the organization will take to enact the plan. This approach can be efficient when executed correctly. However, one shortcoming is becoming too isolated in the planning process and losing sight of the realities outside the organization. Nonetheless, the planning school is worth considering for those looking for a logical and clear-cut way to innovate.
Planning Strategy
The Positioning School, an Analytical Approach
For businesses, a clear and concise strategic plan is essential for success. Most people don’t want to choose from a myriad of strategy opportunities - they would instead choose between clear decisions. The positioning school can help fulfil this desire by providing a well-defined analytical process. The concepts behind the positioning school are not new - they date back to ancient military thinkers. Sun-Tzu’s The Art of War is just one example. In the positioning school, all processes are developed before implementation, much like a general surveying the battlefield. This allows for a clear and concise strategic plan that can lead to success in business.
One of the insights that I caught was how similar positioning strategy is taught in the military and in business school. Consider the common positioning frameworks used in the military and business.
US Marine briefing a 5 paragraph order.
Military Positioning
Within the military we do a METT-TC analysis (Mission Analysis, Enemy Analysis, Troops and Fire Support Available, Terrain Analysis, Time Analysis, Civilian Considerations), which is then used to build an estimation of what the enemy will do EMLCOA (Enemy’s Most Likely Course of Action). The commander will then look at the enemy’s strengths (Center of Gravity, COG), and their weaknesses (Critical Vulnerabilities). From there he’ll come up with an exploitation plan, then implement BAMCIS (Begin the planning, Arrange reconnaissance, Make reconnaissance, Complete the plan, Issue the order, supervise). Then the famous 5 paragraph order is issued O-SMEAC (Orientation, Situation, Mission, Execution, Admin and Logistics, and Command and Signal).
METT-TC>EMLCOA>COG/CV>BAMCIS>OSMEAC
Business Positioning
In business we have similar frameworks, notably PESTLE (Political, Economic, Sociological, Technological, Legal, Environmental), VRIO (Valuable, Rare, Imitatible, Organized) to find opportunities to exploit, the business planning process (there’s multiple variations of BAMCIS, but with synonyms), and OSMEAC is almost like an investor pitch deck. A pitch deck is similar to OSMEAC in these ways:
-Orientation talks about the problem,
-Situation talks about the Market,
-Mission is what your company does,
-Execution talks about what you’re doing and the roadmap forward,
-Admin and Logistics (usually omitted),
-and Command and Signal is the last slide with what the business is asking for and the contact details with key start-up leadership.
PESTLE>VRIO>BAMCIS variation>Pitch Deck
There’s no denying that analysis is vital in forming management strategies. After all, you can’t make informed decisions without understanding the data and information in front of you. However, it’s also important to remember that strategy is only as good as the people behind it. Even the best-laid plans can fail if they’re not implemented properly. That’s why, in addition to focusing on analysis, it’s also important to focus on the people carrying out the strategy. After all, no matter how good a plan is, it’s only as good as the people executing it. Therefore, focusing on analysis and people can ensure that your strategies have the best chance of success.
Entrepreneurial School, a Vision-Based Approach
We saw how the deliberately planned strategies of the prescriptive schools don’t necessarily guarantee success. But what explains the impressive track records of those companies whose long-term success was secured by a visionary leader, such as Bill Gates of Microsoft?
One type of visionary leadership is found in the entrepreneurial school, which focuses on the unique role of a single leader rather than on collective work. In this model, the leader is seen as the primary source of strategic direction, and their vision is what shapes the company’s strategy. This type of leadership can be highly effective, as it allows for a flexible and dynamic approach based on inspiration. Rather than focusing on the physical resources an organization has access to, it focuses instead on the emotional resources of its leader: inspiration, intuition, judgment, insight, experience, etc.
This type of company leadership is almost spiritual, as it relies on the leader’s ability to connect with their higher purpose and use that to guide the company. When done effectively, this can lead to incredible results. However, I should note that this type of leadership can also be very risky, as it puts all of the company’s eggs in one basket. If the leader gets it wrong or loses their way, the whole company can suffer. Still, when it works, it can be an extremely powerful tool for long-term success.
The entrepreneurial school of thought emphasizes the role of vision in business strategy. This may seem counterproductive since the future is, by definition, uncertain. However, many successful entrepreneurs have found that using the past as a precedent can be a helpful way to formulate strategies. The entrepreneurial school is therefore focused on describing and analyzing the process of strategy formation. This can be useful for startups that need to find an innovative way forward. While the school may tend to overanalyze, it can provide valuable insights for businesses looking to create a new strategic direction.
The Cognitive School, How we Make Strategy
The cognitive school is not a monolith. Indeed, the school divides itself between those who define mental processes as more objective or more subjective. Subjective mental processes are influential.
The cognitive school looks at how managers create their mental maps and how they interpret ideas and situations. These maps and interpretations are essential because strategies emerge from them. The school is concerned with how a strategy is carried out. In essence, the cognitive school is about thinking. It imagines managers as information workers who have to process data, organize it, store it, and so on. So the cognitive school looks at how managers create their mental maps and how they interpret ideas and situations. The maps and interpretations are important because strategies emerge from them. The cognitive school falls between the entrepreneurial and operational schools in terms of describing the role of management in formulating strategy. Whereas the entrepreneurial school emphasizes the role of top management in developing strategy, and the operational school emphasizes the role of non-strategic decisions in carrying out strategy, the cognitive school emphasizes both top-down thinking and bottom-up interpretation in strategy formulation and implementation. This makes the cognitive school an important link between the entrepreneurial and operational schools of thought.
The cognitive school is a relatively new strategic approach emphasizing mental models’ role in decision-making. The basic idea is that managers operate with a particular worldview, which we can think of as a mental map. This map is based on the manager’s past experiences and serves to filter and interpret information. Then, based on this mental map, the manager will decide what action to take.
The cognitive school has been criticized for focusing on specific strategies while missing others. One of the challenges facing the cognitive school is how to take a manager’s mental map and turn it into a concrete strategy. Another challenge is that the cognitive school doesn’t always offer clear guidance on how to deal with change. It’s also unclear how well the cognitive school works in practice, as there has been limited empirical research. Despite these challenges, the cognitive school offers a promising new perspective on a strategy that has the potential to improve our understanding of how managers make decisions.
In the Learning School, Ideas Come from Everywhere
The learning school sees strategy as an emergent process that occurs as people work collectively with one another. In this way, strategy formulation and implementation are intimately linked. The benefits of this approach are twofold. First, it allows the organization to be more agile and responsive to changes in the marketplace. Second, it gives employees greater ownership and responsibility for the company's success. For this model to be successful, however, everyone in the organization must understand their role in the strategy-making process. Otherwise, the initiative may have a different impact. Nevertheless, when done correctly, the learning school approach can be an excellent way to ensure that your company is always moving forward.
The most successful businesses are those that can adapt to change. In a rapidly changing world, the ability to learn and adjust is essential for survival. Companies that don’t evolve quickly enough will find themselves at a disadvantage. The key to success is to embrace change and use it as an opportunity to learn and grow.
One of the best ways to learn is by making mistakes. It may seem counterintuitive, but making mistakes is a valuable part of learning. When we make mistakes, we can examine what went wrong and figure out how to do things differently in the future. Making mistakes can also help us better to understand the complexities of the world around us.
In today’s business world, the companies that can learn from their mistakes and adapt quickly to change are the ones that will thrive. Learning is essential for survival in a constantly changing world. Businesses that embrace change and use it as an opportunity to learn and grow will be the ones that succeed.
The learning school of management holds that organizations must be constantly adaptable and that fixed strategies are a recipe for disaster. While this approach has its merits, there are also some inherent dangers. Organizations need a set strategy to avoid becoming too focused on optimization and learning instead of actually implementing a strategy. Additionally, learning is time-consuming and can be expensive when experiments don’t produce desired results. Successful learning organizations must be careful to prevent unnecessary learning that doesn’t lead to strategy development. Finally, the learning school is not well suited for times of crisis, when quick solutions are necessary and there is no time for testing and learning. In sum, while the learning school has its merits, we must consider some inherent dangers.
Conclusion
In Strategy Safari, Mintzberg introduced me to various schools of thought on strategy. This book was particularly helpful in reminding me of times when I have been in disputes with colleagues over the best course of action for our company. The cognitive school of thought was my favourite, as it helped me see the importance of habit and process mapping in my daily work life. I highly recommend this book if you’re interested in learning more about strategic management. And if you have suggestions for other good books on strategy, I’m always looking for new titles to add to my reading list!