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Developing, refining, and executing
corporate strategy are equal parts art and science. But ask a
life-long artist what guides his hand and you will likely get the same
answer a life-long scientist would offer: the force of habits initially
built on training and reinforced through repetition. Corporate
strategy is no different. The most strategic thinking companies
are those that have captured the art-and-science nature of strategy and
simply transformed it into a good organizational habit.
Evergreen Strategy Partners has examined the habits of leading firms and
developed a model for strategic excellence. And while few of these
firms may have gone to the trouble to articulate the sources of their
excellence, we at Evergreen believe they display a strong intuitive
grasp of the four fundamentals of sound strategic management practices.
The Evergreen Strategy Model codifies these four principles as a
pyramid.
The Evergreen Strategy Model
The Strategy Model serves as the starting point for all Evergreen
engagements. Our work begins with a rigorous discussion with
clients about their
strategic
intentions. What does the company "want to be
when it grows up?" These intentions serve as the foundation for
culling down the near-infinite strategic options available to most
firms.
We proceed with highly
data-driven
approach which we believe provides the most solid
basis for making (and un-making) strategic choices. Strategic
hypotheses are formulated and tested for validity, allowing us to
leverage our experience by narrowing the data gathering effort down to
only those strategic options which pass the "intentions test." Our
clients, therefore, avoid the all-too-common consulting approach which
brings the answer before the questions have been fully articulated, but
yet are spared having to "boil the ocean."
Next, we proceed through the work with a constant eye on how strategic
choices, and their implementation, are to be evaluated. This
metric-based
approach enables our clients to know they have succeeded in their
strategic endeavors, not merely "checked a box" and declared them
completed.
Finally, we work closely with client stakeholders to ensure that
strategic management becomes an
everyday
commitment within the organization. Even today,
we are all familiar with the term "Soviet 5-Year Plan." We
remember the term because of its unblemished record of failure.
Corporate Strategy is no different. It is not about grand strategy
statements or annual letters to shareholders; it about the small,
everyday choices that companies make.
The extent to which these choices are made from clear intent, grounded
in objective data, and constantly re-evaluated for soundness will be the
measure of that company's strategic success.
And at Evergreen, our client's success is only the yardstick for our
own.
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Evergreen
