5 q's to formulate your strategy for a business

Roger L Martin, dean, Rotman School of Business, has co-authored a book, ‘Playing to Win-How Strategy Really Works', with AG Lafley, the legendary CEO of P&G. Roger demystified the holy grail of strategy down to making the right choices. He said, "Strategy is essentially about making a finite number of choices." To win, a company must choose to do some things and not do the others. Choosing to do everything is to spread your resources thin and diffuse management focus which is a sure-shot recipe for disaster.

Roger crunched down the ‘choices' concept to 5 simple questions that become the guiding framework to formulating strategy. The 5 questions to be answered in a non-linear and iterative process are:

• What is our winning aspiration? Note the emphasis on winning. The process has to start with the desire to win or someone else with the desire to win will overtake you.
• Where will we play? This is a difficult choice because you have to employ all senses and read all signals to decide on a specific space.
• How will we win? This helps to come out with a unique plan to execute.
• What capabilities must we have?
• What management systems are required?

Roger thrashed the traditional process of strategy making that starts with a SWOT analysis and then goes on formulating the vision statement, then the measures, and such. He said that the process simply does not provide the scope for making choices or looking at multiple possibilities. Far less, it does not include ‘winning' as the agenda.

Lastly, on choice, Roger said that when things are going great, when the industry you are in has natural momentum, you have it easy in not having to choose a playing field. Roger warned that this is an early warning signal of impending trouble when you start meeting the first headwinds. By then, you will be led so far out into the sea, that you will be forced to make a deliberate choice.