the Monday Musings column from that consultant bloke

I see more and more focus on developing strategy through the likes of spreadsheets and data analysis, with even use of AI, not as a tool per se, but allowing it to do the analysis and produce the outline strategy. This gives me cause for concern.

There is far more data available now that at any time in my working life, but what does any of it mean? I see a lot of market research surveys and almost all of them are only ever going to generate gibberish, and some poor sap is not only paying to have that gibberish accumulated, but is also, because they have paid for it, probably going to waste more though acting on it.

The best data is that which is captured as part of doing the job, for example, in a retail environment, scanning product through the till. The basic act of selling product will tell you how many you sell, how much you earned and will drive your stock replenishment systems. This can be extended back into the supplier’s systems if required, so that they can gear production and the purchase of raw materials from that data.

All good stuff, and you can, if your people are clever enough, to factor in seasonal trends and things like that within the algorithms that drive the programme. But, for me, the problem is that here we are still talking about the fact that the computer is doing what we tell it to – we still need human intervention.

Strategy still need to be decided by people. Sure, they can use data provided by the computer, but the end decisions should be made by people who know what they are doing. It is an important skill, it comes from experience and it is one that we can ill afford to lose. Computers will get better as they learn from us, but should they ever take over? Not as far as I am concerned.

Human decisions are not always reliable; we take longer to evaluate information and we do bring emotional aspects into the decision, but we do have the ability to see and feel the environment in which the decisions will be enacted. Strategy needs tactics, and that is where humans are still much better at reacting to the changing circumstances that will always prevail.

Every business, or organisation, should have a strategic plan, but there is still a tendency for departments within the business to have their own strategies. To a degree I can accept these, but all too often the departmental “strategies” seem to have no linkage to the overall one. They should be tactical plans in my view, and non the ego trips that so many look like. I’ve even seen departmental strategies that conflict with the overall aims of the organisation.

Strategies don’t need to be complex. What are you going to do, by when and with what resources is a good starting point. It needs to be clear so that people can understand it, and if it is people that have developed it, then they should have no problems.