Making Quick Calls in the Face of Strategic Uncertainty

The current war with Iran represents the latest in an unfortunately long series of disruptive and potentially world-shaping events.  As with other “big ticket” developments in recent years such as Artificial Intelligence and the rapid evolution in American politics, the challenge for leadership teams is not simply that something that appears momentous is happening, it’s that they need to decide – quickly – how to incorporate this new development into their understanding of what the future looks like.

Part of the challenge is also deciding if these developments are just short-term shocks that need to be ridden out or if they represent more fundamental changes in the landscape.

So, what is a quick, structured way for a leadership team to come together around these kinds of events to conduct a focused, group assessment on how to deal with surprising and/or disruptive developments?

Time-constrained teams can conduct a one-hour leadership decision exercise we call the “60-Minute Call.”  The objective of the exercise is to frame a strategic uncertainty and take some immediate action*.

The exercise is intended to answer the following questions:

1. Does this development represent a temporary spike in the system or a permanent structural shift?

2. If it represents a temporary spike, then what is the short list of contingencies the team needs to plan for?

3. If it represents a permanent shift, then what are the strategic implications for the organization and what modifications to strategy are required?

Temporary spikes are addressed through short-term plans and actions.  Permanent shifts are addressed by revisiting the organization’s foresight and strategy.

The discussion runs for sixty minutes, broken into three 20-minute segments.  By the end, the team has reached a decision on a) how they will interpret the recent development, and; b) what actions they need to take today.

With just a little bit of prep and a 1-hour exercise, leadership teams can reach a common understanding about disruptive developments and make some initial decisions on how to respond.

With the sheer amount of volatility and change in the world today, teams have a greater-than-ever need for foresight work and strategic thinking, and a need to do it more often and more quickly than before.  Fortunately, there are tools and practices available to accomplish just that.

Contact us today to discuss how we can help your team with its own 60-Minute Call.

*Note: this exercise is built on the understanding that most teams are uncomfortable with the ambiguity of uncertainty and prefer to take definitive action, and that most teams find it challenging to schedule a lot of time together that is not devoted to operational issues.  This exercise helps teams reach a decision while being clear about the uncertainty and their planning assumptions.