The Value of Strategic Thinking and Decisive Action in Difficult Times

Today we are faced with a serious global economic and financial crisis that, coupled with technology making geographical boundaries virtually nonexistent, have pundits predicting that the global output will decrease for the first time since the Second World War. What exactly does this mean for individual countries, individual firms and individuals? Does this mean that every country will see output and living conditions decline? Does it mean that every firm will decline in output and profits? It was reported in the news recently that the excellent financial results posted by Supreme Ventures was an indication that many persons are turning to gambling in these difficult times and the company is taking full advantage. Sadly several countries and most companies assume that the difficult environment will automatically have a negative impact and therefore political leaders and company executives sit back and hope that the worst will not happen. It is my belief that the countries and companies that perform well despite difficulties in the environment are those who sharpen their strategy and flawlessly execute it.


Drs. Robert Kaplan and Dave Norton define strategy as an integrated set of choices that position a firm, in an industry, to earn superior returns over the long term (I might add in good and in difficult times). What is this saying? First of all, companies need to differentiate themselves from the norm in an industry to enable customers to make purchasing decisions in the companies’ favour. Secondly, companies need to be at least as efficient as other companies in delivering the differentiated value to the customers. Companies will always have choices to differentiate, however what is important is that the set of choices must be integrated and hence an organization must align itself entirely around delivering value to customers. If a supermarket decides to differentiate on selection or availability, it must excel in purchasing and inventory management to ensure that goods cover a wide spectrum and are always available. When times are difficult, the supermarket cannot cut back on its purchasing and inventory capability in order to reduce costs as it will no longer differentiate and will experience serious revenue reductions.


This strategic thinking to differentiate or to position a firm to take advantage of the opportunities created by a difficult environment is what separates a well performing company from others. However, while strategic thinking is a necessary condition for success, it certainly is not sufficient. Without taking action, strategic thinking is merely a daydream. Michael Lee Chin once said that success is 1% strategy and 99% execution. This is even more relevant in difficult times as delays in taking action can result in loss of opportunities.


In summarizing, companies, and countries, must always think strategically and act accordingly. In difficult times there is a natural tendency to throw the strategic thinking out the window and cut back indiscriminately to survive. However, in difficult times there are always opportunities and companies must strategize ways to exploit these opportunities by differentiating themselves in order to grow or maintain revenue in a declining market. Companies must be cognizant of the internal processes that drive differentiation and ensure that these processes are never compromised when deciding to cut back on expenditure. More importantly however is to act swiftly and decisively once the strategy decision has been taken.

Council of Presidents lack Strategic Thinking

There was great publicity recently over the “historic” meeting of the 21 Council of (Industry Association) Presidents to discuss the solutions to the global economic and financial crisis facing us. According to the newspaper reports the meeting highlighted several solutions, however there were no details on what the solutions were.


Speaking on the HOT 102 Breakfast Club programme this morning, March 10, 2009, Financial Analyst Ralston Hyman said when he spoke to the PSOJ President he was told that the main topics were Currency Board vs. Dollarization. Mr. Hyman concluded that the meeting of the Council of Presidents was a grand waste of time. He contended that the value of a country’s currency is a reflection of the strength of the economy; therefore however we decide to manage the currency (dollarization, Currency Board, Central Bank); the fact is we need to significantly increase economic performance and this is where the Council of Presidents should focus their attention. This reminded me of the debates during the Partnership for Progress a few years ago where there was no Vision, no strategy and no structure and it is déjà vu all over. My conclusion, if Mr. Hyman is correct, is that the Council of Presidents lack Strategic thinking.


If the Council of Presidents really wants to make a difference I recommend they contract Growth Facilitators to facilitate them through a strategic thinking process, which will not simply result in a cacophony of ideas, but rather a coherent, vision-driven strategy to navigate Jamaica through the difficult times.

Giving Forward

Photo: Members of the Growth Facilitators team (Sharon, Marguerite, Robert, Ulla) with Principal of Ascot High School, the President and Vice President of SET at Ascot and Kevin Wallen, founder of SET

Growth Facilitators was recently recognised for our contribution to an amazing not-for-profit organization in Jamaica, Students Expressing Truth (SET). SET was started by a young man named Kevin Wallen, who on returning to his home country Jamaica after spending his formative years in Canada, asked himself what he could do to make a difference. He found his answer in the prison system and has worked there tirelessly and selflessly over the past 10 years.

The SET Vision is to be an instrument for transformation of those enslaved by physical walls and those enslaved without them.

The mission of S.E.T is to empower individuals and groups in prisons, schools, communities, business and government to realize and create opportunities for their own lives by facilitating self-awareness, marketability and cohesiveness in response to their needs.

SET has achieved amazing results in terms of recidivism – NO graduate of SET has returned to the prison system – as well as in the personal growth, development and transformation of its students. It is a joy to see how young men and women (mostly the former) are able to turn their lives around, and come to view their incarceration as ironically, the best thing that ever happened to them!

The Growth Facilitators team believes in our responsibility to contribute ot the betterment of our society. We are very conscious of the importance of giving back the gifts we have been blessed with. Indeed, we see it as "giving forward", as our gifts are carefully targeted to move the organizations to which we give, to greater and greater heights. We are very clear to ourselves that we give in the area of education, and we give that with which we have been abundantly blessed – our facilitation and strategic planning skills.

Growth Facilitators has supported SET over the past 4 years in a number of ways. Part proceeds from our executive conference on Cyberstrategy in 2005 built the computer lab at the Tower Street Adult Correctional Centre. Our partner, Robert, has adopted SET through his Kiwanis Club and regularly supports the inmates, or students, in practical ways. Most recently, we facilitated a one-day Vision to Action workshop with the SET team out of which emerged a 3 year Strategic Plan.

As our team members sat at the function to launch SET at the Ascot High School last week, we felt pride in knowing that the gift of our talent has been multiplied. Our interaction with students in the Correctional Services and at Ascot affirms our belief that an investment in human potential yields infinite returns.

We also felt deeply grateful for the gifts we have received through SET. We have gotten to know some amazing people. We have gained knowledge and sensitivity to the plight of inmates in the Correctional Services System, and those who will probably end up there without an intervention like SET. But most of all, we have experienced the joy of giving of ourselves. Thank you SET!

To learn more about SET, visit http://set-foundation.org/

Cell phone etiquette

This is a photo of a gentleman who was seated at the head table at a function I attended yesterday. Guess what he is doing?

Yes, believe it or not, he was having a conversation on his cell phone!

I continue to be amazed at the way we use cell phones. For some reason, it is imperative that a cell phone is answered. No matter where the cell phone rings – workshops, meetings, weddings, funerals - it MUST be answered! My children will mindlessly ignore the ringing of the home phone, but will track me down wherever I am in the house or garden to insist that I answer my cell phone - NOW! It is so funny to observe people - answering just to say “Call you back”; ducking beneath tables and under tablecloths; cupping hands over the phone while talking in a mumbled whisper - that is quite loud. Don’t we know that voicemail exists? Don’t we know that the missed call shows up on the screen? When I ignore my cell phone, someone will invariably say to me in near panic “Aren’t you going to answer your phone”? And when I indicate not, they stare at me as if I am mad! On occasion, I have said to people “You don’t have to answer the phone you know” and have received the most dumbfounded looks – as if I was suggesting that God doesn’t exist, or the world isn’t round, or some such fundamental underpinning of humanity.

Then there are Blackberrys. I was amused to sit beside a woman at a classical music concert on Sunday who was checking and sending e-mail throughout. As was one of the performers, as he sat in the choral pew! And I can’t believe that people are at Carnival in Trinidad, in the middle of Panorama (steelband competition, which is just rapturous), posting to their Facebook account via Blackberry “Enjoying Panorama, think band #8 should win”!

Cell phones have driven us insane. So caught up in the technology are we that we are not even aware of how we are behaving. I have seen some crazy people in the supermarket talking to themselves – loudly – until I realised that they were using the Bluetooth technology. Speaking of loudly – notice how loud we speak on the cell phone? Does it occur to us that everyone around us is hearing our conversation? Or are we thinking that because we are speaking into the speaker, then only the person on the other end can hear?

Of course, I am guilty of all of the above. But the gentleman yesterday, who believe it or not was representing a Minister of Government at the function, made me stop and think about how I use my cell phone. I hope you do too. The next time your cell phone rings – think before you answer.

Minister Holness need to give principals authority

Minister of Education, Andrew Holness, has instructed all schools to cap auxiliary fees in the face of difficult economic times. The Minister is once again showing his misunderstanding of the fundamentals of education transformation. The transfer of authority and autonomy from the Ministry to the schools is one of the hallmarks of the transformation process. Currently, the Ministry only contributes to teachers' salary, while school fees, auxiliary fees and fundraisers attempt to close the funding gap.

While schools need Ministry approval for school fees, there is no such requirement for auxiliary fees. In fact, auxiliary fees are not mandatory and in some cases are discouraged by the Ministry. It is at the school level where the decisions are made to set the level of auxiliary fees and which child/parent to target as they know best who can pay and who cannot pay. It is therefore ridiculous for the Minister to now undelegate the authority that schools have successfully exercised over the years. In fact, by taking no responsibility for the running of the schools and trying to take authority for setting auxiliary fees, shows a total misalignment between authority and accountability. The Minister needs to rethink this one and allow the school leadership to run the schools.

Accountability in West Indies cricket??? Howzat!

The recent cricket debacle in Antigua where a test match had to be suspended after bowling of only 10 balls is like a microcosm of the West Indies.

Here we have a great brand – West Indies Cricket – built on the backs of raw talent honed by the players themselves, despite, not because of the support and intervention of the official ruling body. The brand is not just about the players – it is the entire experience of cricket in the West Indies – the colour, the passion, the dancing and noise of the spectators; the entertaining characters like Gypsy; the party atmosphere interspersed with the concentrated attention of those who take the game seriously and can summon at a moment’s notice every statistic and event relevant to a particular moment in the game; the radio commentary which is an art in an of itself, narrative of each play interspersed with descriptions of the atmosphere, the breathtaking scenery that is the backdrop of each sun-nestled cricket ground in the West Indies and our history in this glorious game; the food, the beer, the rum, the pounding music – reggae, and soca and every rhythm in between. It is a compelling brand that rivets cricket fans throughout the world and causes many to travel to the West Indies just for the experience

One would think that with such a brand, there would be some strategy to build on and sustain it to the benefit and glory of the peoples of the region. Oh no …. it is taken for granted, those who build and are a part of the brand disrespected and sidelined, as peripheral to the business of cricket. The players hardly seem to have a voice. When they try to be heard they are disciplined, like some little recalcitrant schoolboys who don’t know their place. In the Cricket World Cup two years ago, our music was banned from the grounds, the game sterilised to resemble some disinfected version of something that the world actually loves – all in the name of someone’s idea of what “world class” and “first world” is. Truth is, West Indies cricket IS world class – but not because of the powers that be.

Nowhere was this more evident than in Antigua. Yet again, the West Indies Cricket Board messed up big time. And yet again, they see no reason to accept full responsibility and remove themselves. They lack vision. They are totally incompetent. They are out of touch with the world. They are disrespectful and arrogant. In Japan, were they samurai, they would long ago have put the sword through their stomachs. I suspect that even if they did it now, it would have little effect for they are gutless, spineless has-beens.

How different is this to other spheres of West Indian life? Not much. In everything for which we are known – music, sports, rum, beer – it is officialdom that tears down in its quest for control. No accountability. No acceptance of responsibility – just glorying in results that are not of their own doing, and boldly, arrogantly seeking to blame others when things go wrong.
Yes, what happened in Antigua is a shame – but why are we surprised? It happens every day. Life in the tropics ….

The Arcade Photographer

Last week I had to take my children to get their passports renewed. Trying to be as efficient as possible, I had their photographs taken at the pharmacy in Manor Park, which offers 1-hour service. To say the least, the photographs were typical of passport photos – fit only for strangers such as Immigration and Customs officials to view in order to ascertain that these are my precious children standing in front of them.

On Thursday afternoon, we wandered through the application process at the Passport office, each step carefully choreographed by some unseen bureaucratic hand to make sure that it did not go too easily – lest we wonder what in the world the government is coming to! We finally presented our applications only to be told that Shane’s photograph had a “shadow” and had to be redone. Again, mindful of being as efficient as possible, and determined to complete the process that day, Shane and I headed next door to retake the photograph at the vendor’s arcade.

What a pleasant surprise! The photographer operates in a tiny cubicle, and is a master of efficiency. A number of passport applicants were there on the same mission. The photographer’s assistant offered us seats and had us enter the cubicle in an orderly fashion. I watched the photographer prepare the other subjects – he patted and wiped their faces, tidied their hair, gently positioned their heads and then took the photo. It struck me how different this was to the “photographer” at the pharmacy who had just asked Victoria and Shane to perch on the stool, snapped the photograph and that was it! The arcade photographer took pride and care in his work. And it showed, for the resulting photograph was MUCH better – one that I would be happy to share, and that truly represents my handsome son. AND, it was ready in less than 10 minutes!

It was a joy to watch the photographer do his job. It is obvious that this man is serious about his profession. Perhaps no-one cares about how a passport photo looks – but this photographer did! How wonderful a world it would be if we all approached our work like this arcade photographer!

From now on, whenever I need passport or visa photographs I will be going to the arcade photographer – and I recommend that you do too!