Nearly all of my most recent posts on this blog have been about Strategy Deployment. I’m pleased that there does seem to be an increased interest and focus on Strategy in the world of agile. I’ve certainly had a few interesting conversations recently and there may be some exciting developments coming soon!
Given that, and following up on my recently updated definition, I think it would be useful to describe how Strategy Deployment fits into the bigger Strategy picture.
A quick recap (and further update and simplification) on what I mean by Strategy Deployment:
Any form of organisational improvement in which propositions for progress emerge from the people most connected to the context.
WIth this definition, the propositions are for how to implement the strategy, and their results feed back into the strategy, but they are not the strategy itself, and do not form the strategy per se. Thus it is worth describing those things separately, as depicted in the picture above.
Strategy Development
Strategy Development is the process of deciding what the Strategy should be. I have previously referenced Strategy Safari as an in-depth look at the different schools of strategy. The schools primarily focus on how strategy is developed, covering both deliberate and emergent strategies. The preference here is for emergent, which can still be considered to be developed.
Thus, from an X-Matrix perspective, creating and populating the matrix is the act of Strategy Development. Approaches such as Agendashift and Estuarine Mapping, with their focus on awareness and diagnosis of the situation and understanding the present, are relevant approaches to Strategy Development.
Strategy
The Strategy itself is the result of Strategy Development. It provides a clear focus on key challenges and opportunities, with guiding policies, or enabling constraints. The Strayegy enables people to make decisions about what to do, and what to defer or ditch.
Thus, the X-Matrix has the Strategy is its core content. Additionally, it includes the related and relevant information from the other elements of the TASTE framework.
Strategy Deployment
Finally, Strategy Deployment is the process of turning the Strategy into coherent action. It is the transformation work itself, with catchball (e.g. backbriefing) and experimentation at its heart.
Thus, Strategy Deployment is the realisation of the X-Matrix Tactics, with the generation of Evidence to show whether the Strategy is working. In other words, it is the trialling and testing of the various propositions for progress from the people most connected to the context. This generates learning about how further address the challenges and opportunities to meet the Aspirations.
To summarise, Strategy Development and Strategy Deployment are two different and separate components of having an effective Strategy. Both are necessary, and the two should support each other with an ebb and flow between them.