EVERYDAY LEADERSHIP
Strategic Business
Acumen
Discussion Session
Strategic Business Acumen
1. Definitions of Strategic Business Acumen
2. Strategic Planning
3. Systems Thinking
4. Scenario Planning
5. Group Techniques for Consensus
“If you can dream it, you can do it.” – Walt Disney
2
What is Leadership?
Self-Understanding
Resiliency
Self-Alignment
Customer Orientation
Business Acumen
Project Leadership
Managing Change
Integration
Relationship Skills
LEADERSHIP
IN THE MIDDLE
Communication
Coaching/Mentoring
Actualizing Vision
Working with others
3
Strategic Business Acumen
ALIGNMENT:
Strategic Business Acumen
• Demonstrate ability to ethically build
support for a perspective about which you
feel strongly.
• Holistic view - think in terms of the entire
system and the effects and
consequences of actions and decisions.
• Operate with an awareness of
marketplace competition and general
landscape of related business arenas.
• General business acumen - functions of
strategic planning, finance, marketing,
manufacturing, R&D, etc.
What is Systems Thinking?
“WHY CAN’T WE SELL MORE?”
•
delay
S
Sales
People
S
variable
Portion of
Revenue Spent
on Sales
Bookings
links
“A system is a perceived whole
whose elements ‘hang
together’ because they
continually affect each other
over time and operate toward
a common purpose.”
-The Fifth Discipline Fieldbook
S
S
Revenue
•
Focus on cause and effect, not
symptoms, not quick fixes
•
Study of systems is over 40
years old
S=same
Delay = a passage of time that provokes
flawed perceptions of cause and effect
“There’s no sense being exact about something if you don’t even know what you’re talking about.”
– John Von Neumann
What is Systems Thinking
S
Portion of
Revenue
Spent on Sales
Sales
Force Size
S
S
O
Sales Force
Productivity
Perceived
Lead Time
Bookings
S
S
S
Revenue
Backlog
The Rich Get Richer
(continued)
S
You Can’t Always Get
What You Want
Lead
Time
Capacity
S
O
S
Orders for
Additional
Capacity
Build It And They
Will Come
Scenario Planning
Using history and guesses to anticipate multiple futures
FOR THOSE BORN BEFORE 1945
We were born before television, before
penicillin, before polio shots, frozen foods,
Xerox, plastic, the contact lens, Frisbees, and
the PILL. We were around before radar, credit
cards, split atoms, laser beams, and ball-point
pens. Before pantyhose, dishwashers, clothes
dryers, electric blankets, air conditioners, dripdry clothes, and before we walked on the moon.
What is Scenario Planning?
BENEFITS
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Creates shared vision
Lessens Group Think
Reveals Mental Models
Lessens “denial”
Diffuses emotions
Accelerates reaction
Clarifies estimates
The Learning is in the Dialogue
8
Creating The Story
CHOOSE
2
DRIVERS
 REVENUE
 STAFF
 REVENUE
 STAFF
REVENUE
 STAFF
 REVENUE
 STAFF
Group Techniques for Consensus
Group Creativity & Group Think
Brainstorming
Delphi Technique
Nominal Group Technique
Group Creativity and Group Think
GROUP CREATIVITY
When compared to individuals,
groups make accurate decisions.
However...
GROUP THINK
An individual may feel social
pressure to conform to a popular
solution that he or she would not
have chosen individually.
“None of us is as smart as all of us.” – Satchel Paige
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Brainstorming
Blue Sky
Isolated
GENERATE
DON’T
EVALUATE
Positive
Wild
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Brainstorming (continued)
SET THE STAGE:
We will be spending ____ minutes brainstorming ideas about
our new system. There will be absolutely no interruptions during
this session. The purpose of this meeting is to discuss things
that the system can do for us, with the emphasis on quantity
not quality. Therefore, please be prepared to suggest several
ideas and to refrain from offering any criticism of the ideas of
others. Advance preparation is unnecessary. If you have any
questions, please contact me.
• Moderator: first ideas, one crazy
• Record ideas visually
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The Delphi Technique
•
•
•
Keep membership anonymous
Keep specific communications anonymous
Allow only written communications
PROBLEM
STATED
MEMBERS
TAKE A
POSITION
Individual
Creativity
NUMERIC
SUMMARY
Group
Creativity
RESULTS
FEEDBACK
Group
Think
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The Nominal Group Technique
•
•
•
PROBLEM
STATED
Membership is NOT anonymous
Participation controlled by procedures
Everyone must participate verbally
EACH
STATES
IDEA IN
TURN
Individual
Creativity
EACH
STATES
DISCUSSION
IN TURN
Group
Creativity
IDEAS
RANKED
SECRETLY
TOP
RANKED
IDEAS
Group
Think
15
What is Leadership?
Self-Understanding
Resiliency
Self-Alignment
Customer Orientation
Business Acumen
Project Leadership
Managing Change
Integration
Relationship Skills
LEADERSHIP
IN THE MIDDLE
Communication
Coaching/Mentoring
Actualizing Vision
Working with others
16
Evaluation Questions
Use:
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
Strongly agree
Agree
Disagree
Strongly disagree
Don’t know
1.
2.
I found the presentation of material easy to understand.
This Advantage session increased my knowledge on the
subject presented.
I will be able to use some of the information from this
Advantage session in the future.
The presenter was well prepared for this Advantage session.
This presentation should be repeated in future semesters.
3.
4.
5.