Smart strategy work - even in the face of artificial intelligence
The world is complex, fast and uncertain. Success requires us all to be flexible, experimental and able to tolerate failure. It requires anticipating, adapting and adjusting to new situations. An entrepreneurial spirit.
Businesses come and go, but some of them thrive and grow. The best ones shape industries and businesses, and pull others along behind them.
Many successful companies are driven by the ideal of self-direction. They have a purpose and a goal. They operate transparently and are fun to be around. They are driven by authenticity and a sense of meaning. They trust in people's ability to take responsibility.
This is a lesson that everyone can learn from. Success in any organisation requires a balance between using the old and creating the new. The challenge is that they require slightly different leadership. Exploitation is managed by rationalising, maximising and optimising in an excel hand. Creating something new, on the other hand, requires abandonment and confidence in the front line.
Understanding both sides in depth is almost impossible for individuals. For organisations, it is possible, although not easy, of course. It requires strategic vision, purpose and direction. Leadership that creates opportunities for continuous learning. A sense of diversity. The ability to find the right configurations for teams or cells.
Creating something new is nowadays a necessity. You have to keep your finger on the pulse as customers and consumers become increasingly impatient.
For all these reasons, strategy is a verb in today's world. It is not a plan but a job. It is not a secret science of the few, but a way of working together. It usually no longer means major transformations but continuous development, experimentation and piloting.
Strategy work is a set of practices in which shared knowledge is developed and exploited. It is the coordination of different practices: resource allocation, future scouting, online discussions, workshops, meetings. And it is talk that makes things concrete, helps people realise themselves and encourages dialogue.
Smart strategy work enables everyone to understand the big picture. At the same time, the boundaries of strategy work become blurred. Depending a little on the nature of the business, there is also a role for customers. It's good to take a look at your own activities and draw on the customer's views. And in return, try to get under the skin of the customer.
Many Finnish companies have made significant progress in all these areas.
And then artificial intelligence comes along and makes human interaction redundant? Algorithms will take over and robots will do the practical work? Just when the Finns have learned to talk and sell and strategise smarter! Rationalisation, optimisation and maximisation are hitting us with the hairy palm of their hand.
In Finland, the rationalisation phase has always traditionally taken the upper hand at the expense of creativity. Now it's time to take a risk again. In the short term at least, we can expect more action and less human error.
However, there is a risk of overdoing it. They are trying to create the new by exploiting the old. People are forgotten.
But perhaps after all the rationalisation, optimisation and maximisation, human skills will once again become a competitive asset. Perhaps it will become a brand issue: a way to differentiate yourself and attract positive attention.
So it's worth continuing to make strategy work smarter. Make AI the team member who will not hesitate to raise the issues it analyses.
Goal. Self-direction. Creating something new. Practices to develop and exploit shared knowledge. Constructive talk. The customer. Understanding the whole.
The virtues of smart strategy work do not change in the face of AI. They just get a new spin. But we will have to wait a long time for AI to be able to twist constructive humour.
Janne Tienari
The author is Professor of Management and Organisations at Hanken University. He is fascinated by the future of management.