As leaders learn to move decisively, work competitively and do it intelligently, they take ground from competitors. Strategic moves need to be comprehensive and shrewd. That shrewdness is gauged by how well our competition can match them. It is determined as we lead where they cannot follow. Our agility is as much about our speed as it is about positions, which cannot be copied.

Companies become more agile by doing some very important things, including the following:

·        Making their strategy process more adaptive.

·        Staffing in anticipation of achieving their objectives.

·        Mastering change in turbulent times and use it as a strategic advantage.

·        Innovating on a small scale, while bringing in required expertise to try new things.

·        Driving efficiency into their commercial process, maximizing their reach and penetration.

·        Improving service so they retain their customers through the lean times.

Strategic Foresight

The next characteristic is just as important and complements agility. It is “foresight”, or the ability to take the pulse of customer, company and competitive environments to fuel purposeful changes in our strategic direction.

Many companies only take this scan every three to five years and then have a hard time integrating the input into their decision-making. The information is not widely disseminated or assimilated, and can be a waste of time and resources. In addition, they typically do not have “fresh eyes” when looking at the data. They cannot remove the biases of company or industry experience. For them, a “fresh look” is critical to their success in the lean times, since new opportunities are what everyone is seeking. There is only one sure way to maximize our strategic foresight; that is to complete a focused assessment of the company, its customers and its competitors, with an outside perspective.

Good external strategists can look at any company’s position based upon a comprehensive assessment, and develop a set of possible solutions to their market needs. This is best done in a data-rich environment where the strategic choices can be made as a team. When we are all looking at the same information and assimilating it together, it makes for a more robust strategic plan. This protects against a common failing of leadership under pressure; we default to our old ways and often fail to see what new opportunity is right in front of our eyes.