What is strategy? Strategy is Future Competitive Advantage. What will the future look like? What will people need and expect? How will demographics, technology and other global shifts create new competitors or recharge current competitors and how will categories blur, blend and maybe even disappear?
There are five key dimensions against which an organization must exhibit strength. We interviewed people representing over ninety organizations, from a wide array of categories, for our book Shift Ahead. Some of them were successful in shifting; others were less so. Nevertheless, all could attest to the fact that these five dimensions were essential elements in being able to shift at critical moments of change.
I once managed a Zambian subsidiary of the pan-African cellular network Celtel. Even in our most challenging environments, such as DR Congo, the company won consistent praise for its honest dealings and abstention from corrupt practices. Celtel and other firms that succeed in these settings offer four moves:
Watch James Cameron’s blockbuster, and you might attribute the Titanic’s sinking 100+ years ago to hubris — the ship was moving too fast through iceberg-laden waters. But the causes of the disaster and its morals are more complex than that, and they contain important learnings for any organization trying to move quickly in unfamiliar territory:
