In the last post, The Strategy Spectrum: The Blueprint Approach, we discussed how creating a detailed strategic plan may be useful in certain situations. Here we will be talking about a less structured approach.
The Improvisational Approach
There are times when structure is essential—something to hold all the pieces together. There are also definitely times when we need to be a bit more free of that structure so we can act as needed to take advantage of circumstances or events that have presented themselves.
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Think of it this way, the structured, blueprint approach is a large orchestra with many musicians all trying to stay in time and play together to create something beautiful. This requires a conductor to keep everyone on the same page (literally) and playing at the same tempo. This is the large organization that needs a more detailed strategic approach.
A smaller startup, for example, may need to make rapid decisions and pivot at a moment’s notice. This is more like a jazz trio or quartet. Jazz musicians are able to speed up or slow down, increase and decrease the volume, in short, they play off of each other.
Smaller startups, creative industries or organizations that are in volatile markets need this flexibility to change and alter their strategies as the market changes or as they try new things. This approach gets away from the rigidity of a detailed strategic plan. However, just because the plan is not detailed doesn’t mean one doesn’t exist!
The challenges with an improvisational approach are lack of focus and risk of chaos. With no firm guardrails it’s easy to get completely off track. It can be like the individual players in a jazz troupe all playing different songs at the same time. There still needs to be cohesiveness that moves everyone forward towards the same goals while still allowing creativity within a certain framework.
Going back to our earlier example of a strategic goal to increase revenue by 10%. With a blueprint approach, we may detail out exactly how we will reach the 10%. We will be very precise in targeting our most likely clients.
With the improvisational approach, we should have cohesive branding and messaging; however, we may utilize broader marketing channels just to see what works. We may see new opportunities with emerging or changing markets that we immediately start marketing to. We may alter or develop new products or services to meet a discovered demand. It not that we wouldn’t do these things with the blueprint approach. It’s more that with the improvisational approach we will be able to move faster to take advantage of these opportunities.
When to use the Improvisational Approach:
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You operate in a volatile or fast-changing market.
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Your team is small and highly collaborative.
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Speed and adaptability are more critical than predictability.
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You’re in early product discovery or testing phases.
Conclusion
The discussion around the blueprint and improvisational approaches to strategic planning have touched on each of these at a high level just to give a general idea of each. Keep in mind that what has been described is the outer boundaries of each approach. In practice, most organizations don’t live at either extreme—they blend structure with adaptability. The key is knowing when to conduct a symphony and when to jam. In our next post, we’ll explore how to identify where you are on the strategic spectrum—and how to move intentionally along it.
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From the SmartWork Bulletin