A retreat that doesn't challenge the assumptions behind your strategy choices isn't strategic.
The organization’s annual cycle invites us to pause, step back from priorities, and plan for the coming year. Each member of the executive committee prepares for this key moment by putting forward their priorities to drive the organization forward.
As a leader, you want to ensure your teams are aligned to pursue the organization's growth (or any other strategic ambition).
But is the exercise complete?
The organization's strategy was likely developed a few years ago, and results are progressing. Why is it necessary to review what works?
Because the organization does not evolve in a vacuum!
The initial strategy choices identified how to create value for specific customer segments and determined the activities and resources needed to materialize that value.
Ideally, these decisions aimed to create a competitive advantage.
However, many of these decisions were based on assumptions.
Are they still valid?
Your strategy retreat is an ideal moment to ensure these success conditions are still present and, if they have changed, to explore new opportunities and decisions.
In this context, three dimensions must be explored.
1. Customers
Maintaining a pulse on the voice of the customer is essential.
Make sure you have transactional data, customers’ feedback and your sales team's perspective on hand. This blend of quantitative (transactional) data and qualitative feedback will help you explore how well your offers align with your target customers' jobs-to-be-done (JTBD).
To determine how these JTBDs are evolving and how they might affect your offers, exploratory interviews combined with AI research (Deep Research) are extremely useful.
Finally, with the information you have, don't hesitate to ask what is preventing new customers from adopting your offerings. What held them back in the past may have evolved and could offer new possibilities.
2. Competitors and the Competitive Arena
Your competitors' offerings have certainly evolved as well.
To adapt to customers and JTBDs, competitors may have developed innovations that position their offerings advantageously.
It is just as crucial to maintain a pulse on customer evolution as on your competitors. Have they modified their business model, and how are customers responding?
Your competitive arena is changing.
New actors, new regulations, competitive and economic pressures can alter the balance affecting your initial strategic choices.
Adopt different perspectives to explore possible impacts and opportunities. Make sure to integrate these learnings into your innovation approach to reinforce your competitive advantage.
3. Key Competencies and Activities
The value you wish to create relies on specific competencies, activities, and resources.
These evolve as well.
Question your choices: Can you reconfigure them to maximize added value?
Whether through AI, Make-or-Buy decisions, preferred partners, and core competencies, ensure your strategic choices remain aligned and coherent with the environment and previously identified choices.
New avenues may emerge to create value.
Remember
Incorporating this level of detail into your strategic review requires continuous strategy leadership.
Ideally, you collect and evaluate this information periodically. This also allows you to measure its impact during quarterly reviews.
However, many organizations do not integrate these various signals in their periodic discussions. Regardless of the reasons, these evaluations and conversations remain necessary.
Under these conditions, an annual strategic review requires rigorous preparation by the various teams to ensure productive contribution and informed decisions.
An organization that focuses its strategy retreat solely on updating priorities and budget alignment misses out on reflections that help master the conditions of “How to Win”.
Before starting your next strategy review, assess your strategy by exploring the following questions:
- How are our customers doing? How are their needs evolving?
- What innovations have our competitors implemented?
- Do we still understand our customers' JTBDs correctly, and are we ready to align our offerings accordingly?
- Is our business model still optimal to ensure our competitive advantage?
- How do we ensure the validity of our choices in light of these various important variables?
Remember: the more your strategy leadership has been neglected, the more preparation time your review will require.
Next Steps
To maximize the impact of your upcoming retreat, initiate preliminary work at least 6 to 8 weeks in advance.
Document the state of your strategy and identify gaps, opportunities, and blind spots.
Then, structure your retreat into workshops to address these findings and leverage collective strategic thinking to structure options and strategic choices.
Priorities will naturally follow.
It’s your turn. Good strategic action!
Eric L’Heureux
P.S. Looking to structure a high-impact strategy review?
We can help you in 2 ways:
- Strategy Advisory: Contact us to structure your next strategy review or to discuss how we can help your team achieve agile execution.
- Strategic Intelligence System: Implement your strategic alert system and incorporate key signals into your business decisions.