Answering the first question of Strategic Doing
Strategic Doing provides a discipline for thinking and acting strategically in open networks. Four questions frame the process. On the surface, these questions are simple, but answering them is not easy.
Later this week, I will be in Minnesota to develop a Strategic Action Plan for a 17 county region in northeast Minnesota in northwest Wisconsin. I'm currently preparing the slides for the workshop. On the first question of the Strategic Doing cycle -- What could we do? -- participants need to answer two questions: What are our assets? And what new opportunities emerge when we connect them? It's interesting to watch what happens when people are asked to identify their assets. Two common patterns emerge. First, instead of focusing on the assets they could share within their network, people focus on what they do. They focus on their current activities. I'm not sure why people focus on what they do, instead of identifying the assets that they are willing to share. It may be that we are conditioned this way. Possibly we define ourselves by what we do. Or, alternatively, people stake out their territories by what they do. Whatever the reason, explaining what you do is different than identifying what you're willing to share. Strategic Doing's first question runs into another obstacle. We are comfortable with listing assets, and, certainly, developing these lists serves a useful purpose. Oftentimes, regional leaders are simply not aware of all the assets within the region. So lists are helpful. But maps are better than lists. It's far more helpful to place assets on a map than put them in a list. Putting assets on a map draws are thinking into connections. And this is the important point. Asset mapping creates value when we connect our assets in new and different ways. New opportunities emerge. So, our conversation needs to focus on identifying "link and leverage" scenarios. If we align, link and leverage our assets, what new opportunities emerge? That is a critical strategic question. We are not accustomed to thinking in these terms. That's another reason why the first question of Strategic Doing is not easy to answer well. (download)
