Mark Parker is more than just Nike’s CEO.  He has been an essential part of Nike’s success and continued reign at the top of the athletic shoe pyramid.  Parker provides a glimpse into how Nike’s strategic plan and mission statement embodies the heart and soul of the company.

To read the full version of this article, click here.

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On Strategy Renewal (from the Grave Digger):

In building the monster truck, creator Dennis Anderson and his team started out by hacking together parts from old transmissions. Anderson admits, “Some of our solutions were hideous, barbaric, and frickin’ half the time didn’t work.” But they finally arrived at this agile beast. Now it turns like a Porsche on a racetrack. Point is that strategic plans are not perfect from the start.

On Performance Management (from Lockheed’s SR-71 Blackbird, The World’s Fastest Manned Jet):

When moving at Mach 3.3 at 90,000 ft, the little details might matter! A good system can capture strategic performance at all levels of an organization. In training pilots for the Blackbird, flight instructor and retired SR-71 pilot Rich Graham explains, “If a pilot screwed up, we could download the tapes and say, ‘OK, buddy, here’s what you did wrong.’"

On Leadership (from the Oasis of the Seas: the World’s Longest Cruise Ship by Royal Caribbean):

So how does the captain steer this $1.4 billion boat? "The port and starboard command chairs have built-in joysticks for controlling the ship," Captain Bill Wright says. But those are typically operated by other officers. "Captains should be mentoring and teaching." Strategy needs leaders that keep their sights on the horizon. 

Maybe it’s not as flashy as the bridge of the world’s longest cruise ship, but these examples do offer symbolic insight on why we created The Dash for users of MyStrategicPlan. Pilots, captains, leaders and managers need to bring fragmented information together on command for holistic decision-making. For this, we believe performance management dashboards for strategy execution are best designed as an integrated, interactive platform of information. The end result should be an up-to-date scorecard that can swiftly communicate the status of your key drivers.

Our takeaway: It is the link to obtain a real-time view of where the sailing is smooth or where a hurricane might be brewing in the execution of strategy. If you are looking to build a strategic plan or have one already, make certain you have a way that integrates information for keeping your internal (and perhaps your external stakeholders if warranted) on track. And don’t forget to enjoy the ride.

STRATEGY CHECK: How does your organization navigate through a world of change in your environment?

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Watch the Strategy Huddle videos to learn more about Innovation Strategy

Part 1- Technology and Business Innovation

Part 2- Product and Service Innovation

Part 3- Business Model and Behavioral Innovations

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• Innovation Strategies: Part 3 – Business Model and Behavioral Innovations (30 mins) This is part of a 3 part series covered in...
• Strategy Huddle – August 25th, 2010 (60 mins) Watch a recorded video of the latest Strategy Huddle and...
• Innovation Strategies: Part 2 – Product and Service Innovation (10 mins) This is part of a 3 part series from our...

Innovation Strategies: Part 1 – Technology and Business Innovation is presented by expert strategists Erica Olsen and Howard Olsen of M3 Planning. This part of the series looks into how the current economic times are making organizations look at how they can stay ahead in technology and changes in the business world while staying fiscally viable. Instead of making cuts across the board to save money quickly, organizations need to balance out what is happening now with where they want to be in the future.

You may also be interested in:

• Innovation Strategies: Part 2 – Product and Service Innovation (10 mins) This is part of a 3 part series from our...
• Innovation Strategies: Part 3 – Business Model and Behavioral Innovations (30 mins) This is part of a 3 part series covered in...
• Strategy Huddle – August 25th, 2010 (60 mins) Watch a recorded video of the latest Strategy Huddle and...

Innovation Strategies: Part 2 – Product and Services Innovation is presented by expert strategists Erica Olsen and Howard Olsen of M3 Planning. This part of the series looks into how the current economic times are making organizations look at their products and services trying to find ways to cut back. Instead organizations need to be looking at how they can provide the right products and services that their customers need. Many people have changed their focus as the economic downturn continues to effect everyone.

You may also be interested in:

• Innovation Strategies: Part 1 – Technology and Business Innovation (10 mins) This is part of a 3 part series from our...
• Innovation Strategies: Part 3 – Business Model and Behavioral Innovations (30 mins) This is part of a 3 part series covered in...
• How Do You Cascade Goals and Objectives (10 mins) This is part of the ongoing Strategy Huddle series presented...

Innovation Strategies: Part 3 – Business Model and Behavioral Strategies presented by expert strategists Erica Olsen and Howard Olsen. This part of the series is a deep dive into how innovation needs to be a part of your business model and how looking at behavioral innovations can help your organization grow during this economic downturn.

You may also be interested in:

• Innovation Strategies: Part 2 – Product and Service Innovation (10 mins) This is part of a 3 part series from our...
• Innovation Strategies: Part 1 – Technology and Business Innovation (10 mins) This is part of a 3 part series from our...
• Strategy Huddle – August 25th, 2010 (60 mins) Watch a recorded video of the latest Strategy Huddle and...

1. Strategy Stat: Is Innovation a Strategic Priority?
2. Topic/Question: Innovation: Innovation strategies are the name of the game, so they say, how do you really do this?

• Overview: Look at the different types of innovation strategies
• How To: Apply the best innovation strategy to your organization
• Case Study: Learn how two companies are approaching innovation in a practical, results oriented way

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• Strategy Huddle – July 28th, 2010 (53 mins) Watch a recorded video of the latest Strategy Huddle and...
• Strategy Huddle – June 23rd, 2010 Watch a recorded video of the latest Strategy Huddle and...
• Strategy Huddle – May 26th, 2010 Watch a recorded video of the latest Strategy Huddle and...

• Submit your strategic planning and execution questions to admin@m3planning.com, with Stategy Huddle in the subject line
• Live questions you have will be addressed directly on the webinar

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• How to look like a hero with The Dash
• How to get the most out of MSP Reports
• Our best kept secret coming to your inbox: A Virtual Strategy Guide
• How to tap into the wisdom of the crowd with the Strategy Community
• How to take control of the communication to your team

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• Keeping Momentum After Your Retreat (12 mins) This is part of the ongoing Strategy Huddle series presented...
• How Do You Cascade Goals and Objectives (10 mins) This is part of the ongoing Strategy Huddle series presented...

Fulfilling the communication details needed to effectively execute strategy is much easier said than done. Now, add to this all the varying ways organizations are structured and ways people obtain information. Let’s take stakeholders of a school or city as an example: at the executive level you have elected officials and highly specialized executives that have a certain set of stakeholder needs—and these needs occur in tandem with those for management, teachers, students and citizens.

In the private sector another type of segmentation might exist in a corporation with functional areas that operate in technically specific environments. Maybe there are shareholders and board members as well. Whether profit-driven or public service-oriented, these examples present a common challenge: How do you effectively share and execute strategy with this kind of audience span? Answer these following questions to develop your communication need framework:

1. Who should see your plan, how often, and at what level of detail? Do you have a regular or routine way of communicating strategy to these audiences?
2. What technology can you use to lessen the burden of clerical and administrative effort in information distribution?
3. Are you using channels that your intended audience is familiar with, or will your organization’s staff need to facilitate this learning curve?
4. Do you want to control access to your plan?

If you need a communication medium that has the ability to communicate goal relationship and progress, consider the incorporation of a dashboard that will help generate real-time details to keep your strategy a living, breathing plan.

Interested in what we recommend? See The Dash, it might just be the enhancement needed to attain wide stakeholder alignment to those big organizational objectives that are guiding your strategic initiatives. For customers of MyStrategicPlan, an example of our approach to Dashboard functionality is available for a 30-day free trial.

STRATEGY CHECK: Just how do you communicate your strategy to your network?

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