0002 - Adaptive Strategy Management in The Age of Uncertainty - Amended Framework. - LinkedIn

9/4/23, 8:50 AM (11) Adaptive Strategy Management in the Age of Uncertainty: Amended Framework.
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Adaptive Strategy
Management in the Age
of Uncertainty:
Amended Framework.
James Creelman
Management Consultant, Advisor, 124 articles Follow
Researcher and Author.
September 8, 2022
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9/4/23, 8:50 AM (11) Adaptive Strategy Management in the Age of Uncertainty: Amended Framework. | LinkedIn
I have made some slight tweaks to my Adaptive Strategy

Management in the Age of Uncertainty framework. Such
“tweaking” will be an ongoing process, as I learn more from
my network of experts and as I read the external
environment. The goal is to ensure external movements are
captured and the internal workings of an organization
quickly align to these changes. In the Age of Uncertainty
nothing stands still.
I have changed the term “stages” to “components” as

stages gives the impression of a linear/sequential process,
whereas I see the framework as dynamic and holistic.
The underlying capability of Strategy-Aligned Structure and

Culture didn’t capture what I mean, which is Strategy-
Aligned Structure and Working Relationships. This includes
Culture, but not just the Culture within the enterprise but in
relationships with external stakeholders.
Not Just about Strategy
While here zoning in on Strategy Management, we must

challenge and change the very essence of how we think
about organizations – structure, culture, internal and
external working patters and relationships, technological
underpinnings, etc. At heart, it is about transforming, and
synchronizing, the organizational ecosystem.
The Five Components of the Adaptive Strategy

Management in the Age of Uncertainty
Framework
1. Strategy Formulation.
2. Adaptive Balanced Scorecard System.
3. Adaptive Enterprise Alignment.
4. Adaptive Strategy Execution.
5. Strategy Reformulation and Update.
The Three Underpinning Organizational

Capabilities
1. Strategy-Aligned Structure and Working Relationships
2. Strategy-Aligned & Adaptive Employee and

Technological Capabilities
3. Advanced Data Analytics for Strategic Learning
Adaptive Strategy Management in

the Age of Uncertainty: A Definition
I will explain each Component and Underpinning capability

in turn, but first a broad explanation of the term Adaptive
Strategy Management In the Age of Uncertainty.
Adaptive
Organizations need the competencies (and willing mindset)

to adapt Strategies as they are being implemented. This
requires an understanding that adapting Strategies also
means adapting organizational structures, processes,
culture, etc.
Strategy Management
Organizations must stop viewing Strategy as a linear,

sequential process of formulating the Strategy, executing,
and doing an annual refresh based on the previous year’s
learning.
Strategy must be viewed as holistic and dynamic. Strategies

can be formulated and reformulated at any time, and the
execution requirements and plans must be an integral part
of formulation (not an afterthought).
Strategic Learning must be an ongoing process with

quarterly reviews held to analyse the findings and respond
appropriately.
Age of Uncertainty
In this globalized, fully connected world, we cannot predict

with a high degree of certainty what next year looks like –
never mind over the timeframe of a, say, five-year
strategy. Economic shocks will be regular and the threat of
another Pandemic or other catastrophic event should be
ever-present in our thoughts: and we need to build the
capabilities to calmly navigate through stormy waters. What
we once considered abnormal events will be the new norm.
Detailed long-term Strategic Plans make zero sense these

days and will become increasingly obsolete.
The Five Components
Strategy Formulation
This might sound like a contradiction, but although I do not

see the point of a detailed long-term Strategic Plan, we still
need a plan. This provides a broad overview of the where
and why we wish to compete, the ultimate destination over,
say, a five-year horizon, and the organizational capabilities
we need to build or strengthen.
But the plan should be a short document and not the

product of a painstaking process to develop a detailed
Strategic Plan. The emphasis should switch to shorter-term
horizons and with the full knowledge that Strategy is a set
of assumptions that must be verified in execution. The
assumptions might be correct, partly correct, incorrect, or
simply rendered obsolete by external events (a regular
experience these days). As General Eisenhower said, “The
plan is nothing. Planning is everything.” He also said, “No
plan survives first contact with the enemy.”
This Component has five sub-components.

• External and Internal Stakeholder Assessment
• Select Strategic Choices and set of Assumptions
• Complete a Strategic Risk Assessment, and build

resilience plans
• Create a Strategic Ambition
• Build a Strategic Change Agenda
I will elaborate on the sub-components of this Component

and the others (as well as the underpinning capabilities) in
subsequent articles.
Adaptive Balanced Scorecard System
Despite being 30 years old (in various iterations) Dr. Kaplan

and Norton’s Balanced Scorecard System is still the most
powerful framework for translating the Corporate Strategy
into a concrete set of Strategic Objectives, Key Performance
Indicators (KPIs), Performance Targets and Strategic
Initiatives (Programs/Projects).
In addition to the conventional Balanced Scorecard

approach, I also recommend the identification of Strategic
Risks and the building of a Strategic Risk Dashboard.
By Adaptive I mean that, as with the Strategy itself, the

objectives, etc., are a set of assumptions, so can be
modified at any time.
The four sub-components are:
· Map the enterprise strategy and the causal hypothesis
· Identify KPIs and Targets
· Identify breakthrough strategic initiatives.
· Identify strategic risks, KRIs and mitigations, for each

Strategic Objective
Adaptive Enterprise Alignment
For Strategy to be implemented effectively, all devolved

units of the organization must be aligned to the Corporate
Strategy. This requires organizational functions, teams, etc.,
to clearly understand how the organization defines Strategy
(rarely clear within the Executive Leadership Team) and why
it is has chosen this particular Strategy.
For this, cascade the Corporate Balanced Scorecard System

to devolved units and align across the enterprise to ensure
that each cog is part is spinning on the same wheel.
But keep in mind that the deeper into an organization a

Strategy is devolved, the less meaning it has, so build in the
sense of purpose of the function etc, and the capabilities it
needs to develop.
It is important to understand that people will be looking to

develop their own capabilities, so facilitate a process so that
employees have a strong say in the objectives, etc., chosen,
while ensuring a good Governance system to ensure
alignment with the organizational Strategy.
Also important is for cross-enterprise collaboration to

deliver mutual Strategic Objectives.
The four sub-components are:
• Vertical enterprise alignment
• Horizontal enterprise alignment
• Devolve ownership and responsibility
• Cross-enterprise collaboration
Adaptive Strategy Execution
However well-formulated the Strategic Plan and Balanced

Scorecard System, they don’t in themselves execute
anything. This takes place at this Component.
Here we need to ensure that the annual budgeting process

is aligned to the Strategy, and that investments into multi-
year Strategic Initiatives are secured (Kaplan and Norton’s
concept of StratEx works well here).
Better still is to move to a Rolling Financial Forecasting

approach. Updated quarterly, the forecast is for, say, six
quarters in advance. Greater precision is expected over the
first two cycles. And for those who refuse to let go of the
target-setting in the annual budgeting process, there is
always a forecast until the end of the financial year.
We must also link operations with the Strategy. Kaplan and

Norton posed the question, “What business process
improvements are most critical for executing the strategy?”
Note the words “most critical.”
This Component is not about linking all operations with

the Strategy, but those operational processes that have a
significant impact on the Strategic Processes, as identified
in the Internal Process layer of the Strategy Map.
The criticality of improving Strategic Processes is precisely

why Kaplan and Norton recommended that about 40% of
objectives on the Strategy Map should be within the
Internal Process layer. This is where all customer-facing

work gets done (work within the Learning & Growth
Perspective is to enable the work within Internal Processes)
and is the conduit to aligning operations.
Strategy Execution also required excellent Project

Management capabilities. Indeed, I recommend merging a
Project Management Office with the Strategy Office and
calling it a Transformation Office.
We must also ensure that we are effectively implementing

the Strategic Risk Dashboard.
The five sub-components are:
· Align financial planning systems with the strategy
· Identify key operational drivers of strategic goals
· Strategy-aligned process improvement
· Strategy-aligned project management
· Strategy-aligned risk management
Strategy Reformulation and Update
In the Age of Uncertainty, we must develop the mindset

that enables organizations to update, or fundamentally
overhaul Strategies at the appropriate time (which can be

any time).
Indeed, we might consider moving to a Rolling Strategic

Planning process, akin to Rolling Financial Forecasts.
Update the Strategy on, say, a quarterly basis with the focus
over perhaps a six-quarter horizon, with a greater emphasis
on the interventions required over the shorter-term (or
required timelines), while always keeping the longer-term
destination firmly in mind.
The three sub-components are:
• Schedule regular Strategy Reviews and amend as

required, based on learning
• Formulate fundamentally new strategies, when

required, not to set 3–5-year cycles
• Adopt the concept of Rolling Strategic Planning,
The Three Underpinning

Organizational Capabilities
Strategy-Aligned Structure and Working

Relationships
Strategies will flounder if the Organizational Structure

hinders implementation.
Here we need to fundamentally overhaul the conventional,

and performance-enervating silo-based working and
thinking popularized by Frederick W. Taylor and others.
We must think more about seamless and collaborative end-

to-end process management, rather than passing work
through functions and the fiefdom protections that often
take place.
A Strategy based on customer-intimacy requires a very

different structure than one based on operational
excellence. A Strategy based on innovation requires a very
different structure than one based on steady-state
competition.
In a similar vein, how organizations conduct themselves in

their dealings with external stakeholders, can be a Strategy
showstopper.
Culture (I previously named this capability Strategy-Aligned

Structure and Culture) applies to how organizations
conduct themselves internally and externally.
Internally, a Strategy-Aligned Culture means alignment with

the type of Strategy being implemented – Product
Leadership, Customer Intimacy, Cost Leadership, whatever.

All values, promotion/reward systems, decision-rights,
policies, processes, and procedures must support the
Strategic choices.
Externally, it is also about applying the values, decision-

rights, procedure etc. Working relationships with external
stakeholders are very different for Cost Leadership and
Customer Intimacy, for instance. Front-line staff cannot
spend an inordinate amount of times in conversations with
individual customers (of which there might be millions, and
where the margins are razon thin) than for s Strategy based
on Customer Intimacy (for example, if the product is an
expensively tailored suit, the customer will expect the
supplier to know them personally and spend a lot of time
understanding their requirements).
Product Leadership and Innovation will require much more

collaborative relations with partners and suppliers.
Strategy-Aligned & Adaptive Employee and

Technological Capabilities
Employees require the skills to execute Strategy, and those

skills will differ according to the Strategic Goals.
Organizations should quit their obsession with employee
retention and focus on ensuring the right employee

capabilities are in place, encouraged and developed.
Leaders are simply employees, so developing leadership

capabilities is appropriate here.
In the Age of Uncertainty, there’s a critical leadership

balancing act between having a strong Strategic Vision for
the organization, while accepting that there might be a
need to commit to a new course of action when the
situation warrants it.
Furthermore, leaders can excel in one context and fail in

another. Winston Churchill was an outstanding war-time
Prime Minister, but ineffective in peacetime. Steve Jobs
excelled leading an organization focused on disruptive
innovation but was once forced out of Apple, at a time the
board was looking for steady-state leadership.
Note too that great operational managers do not

automatically make for great strategic leaders. Strategic
leadership skills should be taught from the moment an
employee assumes their first junior management role.
Technology now underpins just about everything an

Organization does, so ensure that the technological
systems are also appropriate for the Strategy and not an
annoying performance-blocker. I am increasing drawn to

Enterprise Architecture as an overall underpinning set of
technologies
Advanced Data Analytics for Strategic Learning
Advanced Data Analytics is enabling organizations to

convert their performance data into relevant information
and knowledge, allowing management teams to hold richer
and more informed performance conversations and make
more evidence-based decisions.
Organizations can pinpoint the specific components of a

KPI that really make a difference to an objective and ensure
that actions and initiatives are driving performance
improvement against that element. Of course, advanced
analytics also enables a better understanding of whether
the assumptions that underpin the selected Strategic
Objectives are being verified in execution.
For Advanced Data Analytics to be effective, organization

must build the mechanisms and capabilities to continually
communicate externally with customers and other
stakeholders and monitor changes in the competitive,
geopolitical landscape, etc, and translate the findings into
internal capabilities.
Strategic Learning must be an ongoing process with

Quarterly Strategy Reviews held to analyse the findings and
respond appropriately.
Parting Words
Note that is the current, and updated version of my

framework for Adaptive Strategy Management In the Age
of Uncertainty. In keeping with my theories the framework,
and supporting methodology, will be Adaptive and will
evolve - and certainly won’t be prescriptive or positioned as
“the answer” to all your Strategy needs. There is no such
answer and certainly no one-size-fits-all solution.
Ends
James Creelman Is Director of the UK-based Cardinal

Management Consulting and an Associate Director of
Strategia Worldwide. His available for consulting, training,
or research support in Adaptive Strategy Management in
the Age of Uncertainty.
He can be contacted on +44 7933 575340

or James@cardinalmgtconsulting.com
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James Creelman 124 Follow
Management Consultant, Advisor, Researcher and Author.
articles
Published • 12mo
I have updated the Adaptive Strategy Management in the Age of Uncertainty. Key
changes being that I have renamed the 5 States as 5 Components and renamed the
capability Strategy-Aligned Structure and Culture as Strategy-Aligned Structure and
Working Relationships.
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Dean Spitzer, Ph.D. • 3rd+ 12mo

Performance improvement expert; author of "Transforming Performance
Measurement" and "SuperMotivation"; 30,000 connections; happy to help
worthy causes for free!
I like "data analytics for strategic learning," but it better be for

organization-wide learning. Too much analytics is silo-based and not
aimed at learning.
Like · 2 Reply · 1 Reply
James Creelman • 3rd+ 12mo

Great comment.
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9/4/23, 8:50 AM (11) Adaptive Strategy Management in the Age of Uncertainty: Amended Framework.

Open Immersive Reader

I have made some slight tweaks to my Adaptive Strategy

I have changed the term “stages” to “components” as

The underlying capability of Strategy-Aligned Structure and

Not Just about Strategy

While here zoning in on Strategy Management, we must

The Five Components of the Adaptive Strategy

2. Adaptive Balanced Scorecard System.

3. Adaptive Enterprise Alignment.

4. Adaptive Strategy Execution.

5. Strategy Reformulation and Update.

The Three Underpinning Organizational

1. Strategy-Aligned Structure and Working Relationships

2. Strategy-Aligned & Adaptive Employee and

3. Advanced Data Analytics for Strategic Learning

Adaptive Strategy Management in

I will explain each Component and Underpinning capability

Organizations need the competencies (and willing mindset)

Organizations must stop viewing Strategy as a linear,

Strategy must be viewed as holistic and dynamic. Strategies

Strategic Learning must be an ongoing process with

In this globalized, fully connected world, we cannot predict

Detailed long-term Strategic Plans make zero sense these

The Five Components

This might sound like a contradiction, but although I do not

But the plan should be a short document and not the

This Component has five sub-components.

• External and Internal Stakeholder Assessment

• Select Strategic Choices and set of Assumptions

• Complete a Strategic Risk Assessment, and build

• Create a Strategic Ambition

• Build a Strategic Change Agenda

I will elaborate on the sub-components of this Component

Adaptive Balanced Scorecard System

Despite being 30 years old (in various iterations) Dr. Kaplan

In addition to the conventional Balanced Scorecard

By Adaptive I mean that, as with the Strategy itself, the

The four sub-components are:

· Map the enterprise strategy and the causal hypothesis

· Identify KPIs and Targets

· Identify breakthrough strategic initiatives.

· Identify strategic risks, KRIs and mitigations, for each

Adaptive Enterprise Alignment

For Strategy to be implemented effectively, all devolved

For this, cascade the Corporate Balanced Scorecard System

But keep in mind that the deeper into an organization a

It is important to understand that people will be looking to

Also important is for cross-enterprise collaboration to

The four sub-components are:

• Vertical enterprise alignment

• Horizontal enterprise alignment

• Devolve ownership and responsibility

Adaptive Strategy Execution

However well-formulated the Strategic Plan and Balanced

anything. This takes place at this Component.

Here we need to ensure that the annual budgeting process