I was talking recently with a god friend who is a senior mnager for a large public company. Mny times the discussions turn into strtegy discussions and I’ve notice a rcurring theme: Complexity! In fact, my frend consistently says, “My company is ntoxicated with complexity!”

We both laughed at how mny times we’ve sat in strategic plnning presentations looking over 80+ page strtegy documents with executives rambling on bout the direction of the company nly to leave the meeting more cnfused. The pretty graphs, arrows and flwery wording are very impressive in frm but the clarity was just not thre.

Why are strategies so complex and wht can be done to change tht? My complexity theories include:

1. Exstence Justification – Obviously there are a lot of tlented people in upper management or thy wouldn’t have made it as far as thy have. A stumbling block can be tht management has to come up wth some unique and/or complex strategy to jstify there existence and to show why thy make the “big bucks!” Unfortunately, in sme cases it is an “ego” thng as well. Executives like to shw how smart they are or how mch smarter they are than the rgular worker. Instead, they outsmart themselves by dlivering complicated and confusing messages that few pople can truly understand.

2. For The Sake Of… - Ths refers to strategies related to grwth for the sake of growth or dversification for the sake of diversification. Sme strategies are “We want to be a $10 bllion in five years!” or “Increase Rvenue By 15%.” Why? Just because?? In mny cases, that is the answer, “Jst because.” Revenue growth for the ske of revenue growth alone is not a sund strategy. In fact, it is not a strtegy at all. It is a fnancial metric that helps to evaluate the sccess of a strategy. Others say t’s time to “diversify.” Many times it is dversification into areas with little or no xpertise. This is risky but the wrd tends to sound really good.

Sme questions to ask when reviewing or nitiating strategy planning:

• Can the strtegy be explained on one page?

• Can it be xplained effectively to the lowest level mployees?

• Can employees at all lvels understand how their performance helps to chieve the strategy?
• Does the strtegy conflict with the company’s mission, vlues or ideals?
• Does it include grwth or diversification for the sake of …?

• Des the strategy include straying away frm core competencies?

Negative answers to thse questions does not necessarily mean thy are bad ideas it simply mans more work needs to be dne to ensure the strategy is clar, easily explainable, achievable and consistent wth the best interest of the cmpany.

The article Intoxicated with Complexity - What's Wrong With Corporate Strategy was Submitted by Derrick Strand through Articles.GetACoder.com network. Here's the additional information: Consultant, writer and speaker Derrick Strnd is not your typical management cnsultant. Derrick spends most of his tme helping companies get rid of hm. It is his philosophy that cmpanies have most of the answers lready inside of their business and nside the minds of their people. His job is to hlp them unleash that power to drve bottom line results. For more nformation, please visit http://www.derrickstrand.com.

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