Creating Strategic Impact: 6 Ideas for the Tail Wagging the Corporate Strategy Dog

In a Strategic Thinking workshop recently, a participant from the largest business unit of a multinational company asked, “How, when it comes to corporate strategy, can the "tail can wag the dog"?

Put another way, he wondered how his business unit, which feels hemmed in by corporate strategy directives, can better influence or vary the corporation’s direction.

6 Ideas for the Tail Wagging the Corporate Strategy Dog

Answering his question generated these six ideas. The ideas range from the least risky to the most risky from both an organizational and a personal standpoint:

1. Demonstrate the ability to outperform expectations even following a sub-optimum corporate strategy (in order to earn the right for greater latitude and experimentation)
2. Identify new and better ways to deliver on the corporate objectives that stretch the organization in positive ways
3. Build a rock solid business case demonstrating superior returns from an alternative strategy
4. Assess what type of strategic change the organization needs and reach out to corporate leaders to make the case for moving forward with a different strategy
5. Wait out the current direction until it changes, and you can pursue a more targeted strategy
6. Create a stealth effort to push forward with targeted initiatives

While it seems numbers five and six are wildly different (i.e., one is suggesting “toe the line” and the other is advocating for going against the corporate strategy in a clandestine way), they are both very risky.

If the business unit truly has to sub-optimize to follow the prescribed corporate strategy, it should be a very conscious decision – not the accidental fallout of a strategic disconnect within the organization.

Similarly, making the decision to advance particular initiatives that are right for a business unit but clearly outside corporate strategy may be possible. But pursuing this strategy could be a recipe for huge problems for leadership and the overall organization.

That’s why both five and six, although wildly different strategies, are both very risky. If you decide to go there, be careful . . . very careful! - Mike Brown

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