Where Archetypes and Strategy Meet

Any strategic planning in your organization should begin with a current assessment of its environment and culture - that is, with an up-to-date Organization/Market Profile.  Indeed, the use of this profile necessarily pushes the issue of organizational culture to the forefront of strategic planning.  (This profile can also be used to help shape more specific strategies on investment, acquisitions, new product development, and restructuring.)

The Organization/Market Profile has been used successfully as a strategic planning tool by many dozens of organizations throughout the world, including 3M, KMPG Europe, Merck Mid-Europe, Snap-On Tools, and RTW.  Let's look at how the profile can be used in strategic planning by considering one such real-life example: a mid-size enterprise called Owatonna Tool Company.

OTC had all of its top managers take the Perfect Biz Match and create their own Organization/Market profiles.  It then held a retreat for these managers to help them better understand the company's markets and make any necessary adaptations.  In this retreat, leaders realized that they needed to separate their product lines into two categories: 1) hard tools, which were commodities being sold in a battleground market, and 2) electronic hand-held devices, which were high-tech, customizable products being sold in a jungle market.  As the retreat progressed, they discovered that the issues around serving customers were very different for these two groups of products.  As a result, OTC changed its company structure, creating two different cultures - a warrior culture and a hunter culture - that operate side by side. 

Your own Organization/Market profile can be used to help you and your colleagues reach consensus on major business line and organizational issues.  Ultimately, you will make some judgments about:

• what market environment(s) you will compete in
• what products and/or services you will offer
• how you will engage the competition
• how you will alter the organization's culture
• how your will alter the organization's operating style

You can also use the questions from the Perfect Biz Match as valuable discussion tools.  Although the assessment is intended to be taken individually by key people in an organization, its questions (and people's answers) can also be presented to groups to provoke thoughtful analysis, debate, and deliberation.  Such discussions can, in turn, create very high levels of creativity, problem-solving, buy-in, and commitment.

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Managing the ChangeGuidelines for Large-Scale Change Significant change does not come easily.  Most people, even those who believe things need to change, typically think that what needs to change is outside of their own area. Read More Getting the Best Results As you work through the steps of the strategic planning process, keep the following considerations and guidelines in mind: Read More Using Archetypes in Strategic Planning Perfect Biz Match has developed a six-step model for making best use of the Archetype Assessment in strategic planning and decision making.  To use this model most effectively, the entire process should be driven by the leader of the organization and championed by all members of the leadership team. Read More Where Archetypes and Strategy Meet Any strategic planning in your organization should begin with a current assessment of its environment and culture - that is, with an up-to-date Organization/Market Profile.  Indeed, the use of this profile necessarily pushes the issue of organizational culture to the forefront of strategic planning.  (This profile can also be used to help shape more specific strategies on investment, acquisitions, new product development, and restructuring.) Read More