One of the client organisations I work with has a strategic plan that fits easily on one side
of A4. It is the reference point for
decision making, the focus for all activity, the criteria for investment and
the basis of performance review. It
describes four shared priorities for the whole business, and demonstrates the
value of ruthless prioritisation. This organisation also has the benefit of a deeply embedded set of values that date back generations. Two years ago the business issued a profits warning and was in decline. At that time the new management team worked with the business to determine the new plan, and since then has relentlessly executed it across its integrated supply chain and national food retail network.
The journey has not been easy, involving restructuring and closure of some facilities. But the business is now performing strongly, with high levels of customer satisfaction and employee engagement. They have kept true to their values and delivered on their plan with discipline and commercial agility. The challenge now is to refresh the plan for the next three years, in light of changing customer expectations and supply dynamics. I am confident they will do so with clarity of thought reflected in the art of simplification. To repeat a much-quoted line from Leonardo da Vinci, ‘simplicity is the ultimate sophistication’.