The constant struggle of lifting one's head out of day-to-day work to assess the bigger picture is a common challenge for many strategy and operations leaders.
Thanks to rapid advancements in technologies that we are experiencing across all industries today, everyone is trying to move fast in order to stay relevant. While being agile is important to compete in today’s world, one could argue that moving too fast can actually be detrimental to organizational growth.
Josh Streets is no stranger to this challenge. As the Founder and CEO of Scoreboard Group Consulting, Josh advises strategy and operations leaders of large, complex contact centers on strategic execution while leveraging the latest technologies.
On this episode of Aspiring Ops, Josh shares his learnings and observations in strategic consulting, the approach he takes with clients, and why organizations can move faster by slowing down.
Our Takeaway
With so many teams working in silos today, and with all of the new technologies like AI, everyone eventually starts to go down their own path. Because of this, when it’s finally time to talk strategy, regaining alignment can be extremely challenging.
For Josh, it all starts with building the foundation by gaining the trust of his clients and understanding the heartbeat of the organization. While it’s great to do exercises like SWOT analysis, Josh challenges his clients to really think about the long term. His mantra “never trust the strategy; always trust the person leading it” speaks to that.
“So many times I’ll listen to the strategy and it’s not actually the strategy. It’s a goal or tactic. And everyones trying to move so fast… that they’re applying very simple ‘band-aid’ solutions that aren’t actually even strategies,” says Josh. “Plan your work, then work your plan.”
And it’s so true. So many times organizations don’t even realize they’re not building a long-term strategy and instead just blocking and tackling things that have to get done.
It’s critical for strategy and operations leaders to be willing to step back and reevaluate the entirety of the process. If an organization doesn’t understand how each department is connected, they’re set to fall into the same behaviors for better or worse. There will always be fires to put out, yet they’re likely to come back a few months later without taking a step back to understand what’s causing them in the first place.
Want to learn more about how Elate is working with today's leading Strategy and Operations leaders? Connect with our team today.
