The Clear Strategy Method helps you to design a strategy that …
... incorporates and addresses your organisation's realities and challenges, ...
Clarity of Context
... charts a bold, visionary and achievable future ...
Clarity of Direction
... and guides the day-to-day decisions of everyone on your team.
Clarity of Execution
Why Your Strategy Needs to Be Clear
Hi. It’s Stacia, Managing Director of Antilles Economics and the creator of the Clear Strategy Method. I know websites are meant to be scannable and have a lot of pictures, but this is important so permit me to be a bit long winded here.
I have seen a lot of strategies in my two decades of working on national and corporate strategies, for governments, large companies and small mom and pop shops. There are two very common pitfalls. The first is strategies that do not create a sustainable competitive advantage. In fact, in the worst cases, we could swap out their logo for their competitors’ logos and no one would know the difference. The second is strategies that are too complicated and convoluted for anyone – sometimes even including the people who created them – to create any type of meaningful action plan. When you compound these pitfalls with the real challenges associated with operating in small and imperfect markets, it is no surprise that many leaders feel that they are on a treadmill, working hard but going nowhere.
The ones that worked had one thing in common. They were clear and straightforward.
As clear and easy to interpret as an equation that says 1 + 2 = 3. No extra stuff.
The hardest thing to do though is to simplify the complex. And, business is complex. There are so many opportunities, so many threats, so many moving parts, so many opinions. How do you choose one path when multiple paths appear to get you there? How do you distinguish between insight and noise? How do you ensure that you’re focused on the thing(s) that truly move the needle? And, what happens when everything keeps changing?
The Clear Strategy Method is our solution.
It works because it is designed to ensure that there is clarity in the three elements of strategy – context, direction and execution – and that that clarity remains, even as there are changes in the context, direction and execution.
If you’re looking for a once and done approach to strategy design, this is not it. Strategy must evolve. What we’ve designed is a method that ensures that as things change, clarity is not lost. Its goal is to foster organisations that operate with laser-like precision towards your goals, everyone and everything moving in the same direction and on the same wavelength.
Bliss.
About The Method
What You Get
Element 1: Clarity of Context
Reveals
- Why you exist
- Key external developments
- Internal conditions
Element 2: Clarity of Direction
Delivers
- Inspiring, bold vision
- Operational alignment
- Key initiatives
Element 3: Clarity of Execution
Ensures
- Teams make mutually reinforcing decisions
- Enabling infrastructure is in place
- Invisible assets are nurtured and protected
How It Works
We collaborate with your strategy development team to co-create your strategy and execution plans.
- We start by gathering the necessary insights to inform your decisions: competitor intel, customer feedback, organisational health, market changes, etc.
- We then develop plausible future states based on a continuation of the trends we see today as well as the early signals of upcoming disruptions.
- Once the core challenges (both opportunities and threats) have been distilled, we then facilitate brainstorming workshops to identify your strategic options to addressing them.
- The options are whittled down to one compelling strategy, which forms the backbone of your Clear Strategy.
- We then codify that strategy into its required tangible assets (e.g. money, equipment, facilities), intangible assets (e.g. culture, brand, knowledge) and capabilities (e.g. digital acumen, leadership, financial modeling).
- From here, we embed that code into the various functional strategies – HR, marketing, customer experience, operations, financing, etc. – and ultimately into tactical plans.
- Now you transform … and we stick around to support you through the transformation.
The result is an insights-driven, coherent and sustainably competitive strategy.
Why It Works
Guaranteed coherence by instilling clarity of context, direction and execution from the beginning.
Most strategies have two distinct phases: development and execution. That approach assumes that the world that existed when the strategy was developed is the world that will exist for the duration of its execution.
Our approach is different. We assume that you may need to change course as you execute, but clarity on how you change course and the intended end results should remain. Think of it like a ship altering its course in response to sea and weather conditions, but never losing sight of its intended port of call, the reason for its voyage or the needs of its crew and passengers.
Guaranteed sustainability by competing on assets that are unique to you and almost impossible to copy, i.e. your invisible assets
Have you ever wondered how some of the world’s leading companies stay ahead of the pack for decades while their competitors seem to flash and burn? The secret lies in their close management of assets like brand, trust, creativity, knowledge, relationships and experiences. All of which are invisible. All of which you too can leverage.
The catch is that they are invisible, which makes them difficult for competitors to copy but challenging to manage. We help you to unearth your unique invisible assets, embed them into your strategy and nurture them into competitive weapons.
Meet Your Facilitator
