Busting 5 Ugly Strategy Recording Myths Holding Back Strategic Health Leader Thinking

Blip-Zip Executive Summary On Strategy

Forget outdated leadership recordings! Strategic thinking isn’t just for the C-suite. Traditional top-down approaches limit innovation and agility. Cultivate strategic leaders at all levels to navigate complexity, unleash talent, and thrive in a VUCA world. This article challenges 5 harmful recordings holding organizations back and proposes a new CD: strategy is everyone’s job.

Blip-Zip Takeaways

1. Strategy belongs to everyone, not just the top. Embrace collective intelligence and diverse perspectives at all levels.
2. Ditch the “master strategist” myth. Focus on collaboration, continuous learning, and shared ownership of strategies.
3. Complexity demands everyone at the table. Empower and equip leaders across the organization to think strategically.

Key Words

Strategic leadership, lifelong learning, collaborative strategy, VUCA world, organizational transformation

Introduction to Myths Holding Back Strategic Thinking

Lifelong learning is the fuel for transformation! Over time, new insights emerge, course corrections in the form of foresight and hindsight are applied, and progress is made. That’s the strategy in action or being strategic-minded.  But why is strategy so hard for even the most experienced senior leaders?  This is how we grow young leaders into senior strategic-minded health leaders. Right?

At least, it should be. But it hardly applies to the field of strategy. Of course, new insights have appeared over the years. But the level of learning is surprisingly low. We can blame the iPhone for that.  Not! It’s a recording you’ve learned over the years: strategy resides in the C-suite.  Knock it off!

The Recording Myths

To some, strategy means something like “the art of war and the general.” Yes, someone like Sun Tzu. Wrong. Even generals have large staffs that act like parts of their brains.  Accordingly, many definitions or contexts of strategy refer to top management, the C-suite, strategic planning division, or the consultant team. This perception is what kills organizations.  Why? You need not worry about strategy until I get to the upper ranks. 

The big idea leaders at the top are responsible for setting out the strategy, which trickles down and translates to lower levels to where it is executed. Even then, strategy in the sense of thinking applies to execution. This works because strategy consultants have convinced those at the top have the “bigger picture” and performance measures in fancy strategy maps set out the general direction without losing control.  Wow.   And the rest of the organization is responsible for the details and execution of the strategy. A big double wow! 

Why The Recordings Are Holding You Back

Like with many recordings, there is some truth in the idea of strategy being the purview at the top.  Yes, the C-suite should set the direction of the organization. It makes sense there are “caretakers” in the organization reporting and analyzing performance measures and some leaders have a greater say in where the organization is heading.

But, think about it.  If senior health leaders were cultivating younger leaders to think more strategically or be systems-minded, those leaders would more effective at higher levels. But the idea strategy is something exclusive or even primarily for the top is wrong is an 8-track tape that needs to be purged for a variety of reasons.

1. Recording #1: While the time horizon is different, strategy generation and execution can’t be separated. This recording is based on the idea strategy formation and implementation can be separated over time and in the organization. Formation happens first and at the top and implementation thereafter and by the rest of the organization. But this doesn’t work. The world does not work with linear processes anymore!  Get over it!  It didn’t in the past. It doesn’t work today, in this volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous (VUCA) world. Ooops, was that a cute term some of my colleagues will scoff at?  I would this very separation is the single most important cause of the high failure rates in strategy. The two need to be in constant interaction so a virtuous cycle emerges in which the ideas, actions, and buy-in of junior leaders continuously feed each other.
2. Recording #2: The master strategist hardly exists. Well, well, I take offense to that.  We are fond of heroes—people to look up to with remarkable skills far beyond our own. The fact is these are extremely rare in strategy. Many so-called strategists live in their bubbles.  You can predict their recordings.  Most executives aren’t the know-it-all visionary leaders we expect them to be. Really?  Yes, I’ve met plenty of them. The fact we expect it from them is bad enough. We are disappointed because they don’t live up to our expectations of the persona of the strategist in the C-Suite.
3. Recording #3: Intelligence and ideas don’t correlate with positions or corner offices. To be a master strategist, one needs great intelligence and great ideas, so the recording goes. Hmmmm, sounds like me and my aspirations.  The idea is people at the top are blessed with more intelligence and ideas than you and I. Not. There is no evidence or research that shows intelligence and ideas correlate with position. The fact is, there are numerous people who are smarter and have better strategy ideas than those at the top. The wise organizations seek them out and develop them accordingly. 
4. Recording #4: Networks and groups beat individuals. When engaged in the right way, groups of people make better analyses and better decisions than individuals. This applies to teams and organizations as well as large crowds. Not acknowledging this can lead to groupthink or the Road to Abilene. When properly engaged though, groups are much smarter than individuals. Not using this insight in strategy at lower levels where teams are more prevalent seems like an extremely missed leader development opportunity.
5. Recording #5: Things are too complex, so let top management deal with it. The world we operate in complex. Don’t you just love it when a senior leader wants the bottom line on one slide? The level of complexity is far beyond what top management can grasp and deal with. Things are simply too complex to be understood by those few at the top. Assuming they can is a sub-recording. To survive and prosper most organizations need to have everyone on board. Not just for creating and delivering products and services, but for generating and executing strategy. In a world so complex, organizations can no longer afford to leave something so important as strategy to just the top. And besides, with turnover these days, continuity and transition of a strategy and execution element could take years especially with hard to crack cultures.

What Now, Coach?

Many organizations realize strategy is not just a top management activity. They involve middle management, consult others in the organization and follow more participative approach than the traditional trickle-down approach. Yet, the primary assumption is still top management is responsible for strategy generation.

What if we completely abandoned the previous recordings and adopt the CD: strategy is everyone’s job? This may sound a bit bizarre. But I think the current alternative is even more bizarre. The current idea top management is responsible for strategy suggests the more important a topic is (I’d consider strategy very important), the fewer people should decide about it (just the board). In that light, I’d say making strategy part of everyone’s job is far less bizarre.

Summary

Explaining how to do this is beyond this article. But to see how this could work, it is useful to have a look at quality management and its various varieties: Total Quality Management, Continuous Improvement, Lean, Six Sigma, etc. One of the core elements of all these approaches is that everyone in the organization is responsible for quality. Not just a staff department. Everyone and from their own perspective. I am sure the same can work for strategy as well. Think about it.

Deep Dive Discussion Questions for Your Next Meeting, Seminar or Class

1. How can we empower leaders at all levels to take ownership of strategic initiatives?
2. How can we break down silos within our organization to encourage collaborative strategy development?
3. What learning and development opportunities can we offer to cultivate strategic thinking at all levels?
4. How can we celebrate and reward individual contributions to the overall strategic vision?
5. How can we leverage the diverse perspectives within our team to identify and address blind spots in our strategy?
6. What can we do to ensure continuous learning and adaptation to remain competitive in a dynamic environment?

Professional Development and Learning Activities

1. Cross-functional team projects: Assign diverse teams to tackle real-world challenges, requiring strategic thinking and collaboration.
2. Reverse mentoring: Pair senior leaders with junior leaders for knowledge sharing and strategic insights.
3. Book clubs or discussion groups: Focus on books and articles related to strategic leadership and organizational learning.
4. Strategy simulation: Participate in a simulated scenario where teams make strategic decisions and face real-time consequences, highlighting the importance of agility and adaptation.
5. 360-degree feedback: Gather feedback from colleagues across levels to identify your strengths and areas for growth in strategic thinking.

Resources, References, and Citations

By engaging with these resources and implementing the suggested activities, you can cultivate a culture of strategic thinking and collaboration within your organization, unlocking the full potential of your team and achieving lasting success.

1. Your Strategic Planning Sucks: A Practical Guide for Small Business Success
2. Managing in a VUCA World
3. How to Create an Agile Organization
4. The Leader of the Future
5. 5 Ways to Future Proof Your Workforce
6.  Seven essential elements of a lifelong-learning mind-set
7. The Strategy Paradox: Why Companies Fail to Execute

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About the Author

I am passionate about making health a national strategic imperative, transforming and integrating health and human services sectors to be more responsive, and leveraging the social drivers and determinants of health (SDOH) to create healthier, wealthier, and more resilient individuals, families, and communities. I specialize in coaching managers and leaders on initial development, continuously improving, or sustaining their Strategic Health Leadership (SHELDR) competencies to thrive in an era to solve wicked health problems and artificial intelligence (AI).

Visit https://SHELDR.COM or contact me for more BLIP-ZIP SHELDR advice, coaching, and consulting. Check out my publications: Health Systems Thinking:  A Primer and Systems Thinking for Health Organizations, Leadership, and Policy: Think Globally, Act Locally. You can follow his thoughts on LinkedIn and X Twitter: @Doug_Anderson57 and Flipboard E-Mag: Strategic Health Leadership (SHELDR)

Disclosure and Disclaimer:  Douglas E. Anderson has no relevant financial relationships with commercial interests to disclose.  The author’s opinions are his own and do not represent an official position of any organization including those he consulted.  Any publications, commercial products, or services mentioned in his publications are for recommendations only and do not indicate an endorsement. All non-disclosure agreements (NDA) apply.

References: All references or citations will be provided upon request.  Not responsible for broken or outdated links, however, report broken links to [email protected]

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