Developing a High Performance Strategy: Competing to Win

Laying the foundation for tomorrow's success while competing to win today.

"If the answers to "future" questions are not significantly different than the "today" answers, there is little chance that a company will remain a market leader."

Gary Hamel and C.K. Prahalad
Competing for the Future, 1994

Most organizations face stiff challenges in today's marketplace. Changing demographics, new technologies, aggressive competition, and sophisticated consumers demand that organizations change the way they do business, or face extinction.

Too many organizations respond to these challenges by trying to do what they have done in the past. Those that thrive welcome change and renew themselves by aligning with current and future realities.

By participating in this program, you and members of your organization will:

• Understand the challenges and opportunities present in your external environment.
• Identify assumptions about the future.
• Clarify a reason for being that motivates and inspires.
• Identify the principles by which people will conduct themselves.
• Define your future customers and how you will deliver value to them.
• Identify core organizational competencies needed to succeed in the long run.
• Create a long-term business focus and anchors that distinguish you from your competitors.
• Set short-term performance goals.
• Establish performance initiatives and a master plan to manage your organization's long-term development.

Program Objectives

• Understand the meaning and importance of strategy
• Identify the demands and challenges presented by your organization's environment
• Forecast the future business situation
• Create a core ideology
• Define your strategic direction
• Differentiate your organization from its competitors
• Set performance goals to focus your activities and measure your success
• Establish performance initiatives and a master plan to manage your long-term development

Structure and Format:

Developing a High Performance Strategy consists of eight modules two to three hours in length that are scheduled and delivered at least one week apart. The modules include numerous individual and group exercises that make the training come alive and ensure that participants translate the principles into a personal plan of action.

The group sizes and pacing can be customized to suit your organization's particular needs.

Module 1: Overview of Strategy

• Learn the meaning and critical elements of strategy
• Understand two orientations to strategy and determine where you are on this continuum
• Explore three approaches to strategy
• Assess the current strategy of your organization
• Assess the current results of your organization
• Learn the strategic design sequence you will follow
  

Module 2: Analyzing The Business Environment

• Review current market conditions and key competitors
• Identify key customers, key stakeholders, and their expectations; identify key suppliers and rate your relationship with them
• Identify external factors influencing your organization
• Evaluate current market conditions affecting your organization
• Review the strengths and weaknesses of key competitors
  

Module 3: Forecasting The Future

• Identify assumptions about the future environment of the organization
• Reduce this list into the "big hitters," which define your future business situation and evaluate the impact they might have on your organization
• Determine how your organization might respond to each of these assumptions
• Identify alternative future business situations
• Conduct a SWOT analysis to prepare to effectively manage the future business situation
  

Module 4: Creating Core Ideology

• Understand the role of a core ideology in your organization's success
• Learn the ideologies of successful companies
• Explore the legacy of your organization
• Define your organization's mission
• Analyze the beliefs that have created your culture
• Reach consensus on your guiding principles
  

Module 5: Defining Your Strategic Direction

• Understand the primary questions that must be answered to establish strategic direction
• Clarify a vision of your organization five years in the future
• Identify the characteristics of your current customers and the deliverables you provide them
• Describe your future customers and how your deliverables and products or services may change to meet their needs
• Explore your organization's core competencies and define the competencies you will need in order to compete in the future
  

Module 6: Defining Your Competitive Advantage

• Understand customer's perception of value as the foundation of differentiation
• Create a long-term business focus
• Identify competitive differentiators within your industry
• Do a competitor analysis against the competitive differentiators
• Select competitive anchors that distinguish you from your competitors and competitive necessities that define in which area you must keep up
• Develop a value position
  

Module 7: Setting Goals

• Understand the importance of setting goals and tracking performance
• Learn the building blocks of goal-setting
• Identify your organization's key result areas
• Establish metrics in each of your key result areas
• Assess your current performance
• Set goals in each of your key result areas
• Evaluate your feedback system
  

Module 8: Creating a Master Plan

• Understand the importance of an integrated, master plan for managing your organization
• Select a number of critical success factors for your organization
• Identify major performance initiatives to implement your ideal vision
• Fill out a performance initiatives matrix showing the relationship between your critical success factors and performance initiatives
• Learn how to create a project charter to guide the implementation of each initiative
• Know how to commission project teams for each initiative
• Understand the basics for project management and how to use a project implementation worksheet

Are you ready? Unfetter the potential
in your people, your business – and yourself.

Email info@unfetteredpotential.com

or call 913-851-2430

Kaizen Programs that Unleash High Performance

Principles of High Performance

Developing a High Performance Strategy

Developing High Performance Teams

Skills for High Performance Teamwork

High Performance Leadership

Assessing Your Organization for High Performance