Distinguish Strategies & Tactics
Plan for Uncertainty
Ensure Accountability
AGILE CHANGE
Distinguish Strategies & Tactics
Strategies
Approaches that are fundamental to institutional mission and identity. Some institutions will need to change their strategies - not just their tactics - in order to respond effectively to an uncertain future. Example: If the market is no longer interested in what an institution is “selling,” this might require a change in strategy. Does our market suggest we need a change in strategy?
Tactics
Specific actions for implementing strategies. Some institutions are "healthy" enough to make small tactical changes. But if tactics are not aligned with a viable strategy, they are likely to fail. Example: If the market is interested in what an institution is selling but results are poor, this might require a change in tactics. Are our tactics effectively implementing our strategies?
Ensure Accountability
Explicit Goals
"Having a hard target, grounded in realistic expectations, against which the organization would be measured, create[s] an incentive to do what [is] necessary to achieve the project's objective."
(Grawe, 91)
What are the explicit goals we can use to measure our success?
Healthy Urgency
"As we think through our tactical options, viewed through a strategic lens, accountability can be a source for healthy urgency: Some is not a number. Soon is not a time."
(Grawe, 91)
How are we creating accountability in our work to inspire a healthy urgency?
Accountability + Plan for Uncertainty
How can we use accountability to help us plan for uncertainty while also using that uncertainty to shape accountability measures?
Plan for Uncertainty + Strategies/Tactics
How can we use strategic vision to plan for uncertainty while also using that uncertainty to inform the tactics we use to enact that vision?
Plan for Uncertainty
Uncertainty of Future
"While we can be sure that demographics are changing, many uncertainties remain - in future patterns of college-going, families' willingness to pay, competitors' behaviors, cost structures, job markets, macroeconomic conditions, alumni support, and more."
(Grawe, 87)
What uncertainties are we facing as an organization?
Holistic Planning
"If the limits of time lead to a tactical-strategic mismatch, the result can be more failure, leading to yet another round of crisis-driven tactical conversations and leaving little space to discuss and settle on strategic adjustment."
(Grawe, 87)
How are we planning to maintain the match between our tactics (practices) and strategy (principles)?
Accountability + Strategies/Tactics
How can we ensure accountability in the tactics we use while also using our strategic vision to define accountability measures?
Dimensions of Agile Change
Gardner Institute
Created on May 3, 2024
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Transcript
Distinguish Strategies & Tactics
Plan for Uncertainty
Ensure Accountability
AGILE CHANGE
Distinguish Strategies & Tactics
Strategies
Approaches that are fundamental to institutional mission and identity. Some institutions will need to change their strategies - not just their tactics - in order to respond effectively to an uncertain future. Example: If the market is no longer interested in what an institution is “selling,” this might require a change in strategy. Does our market suggest we need a change in strategy?
Tactics
Specific actions for implementing strategies. Some institutions are "healthy" enough to make small tactical changes. But if tactics are not aligned with a viable strategy, they are likely to fail. Example: If the market is interested in what an institution is selling but results are poor, this might require a change in tactics. Are our tactics effectively implementing our strategies?
Ensure Accountability
Explicit Goals
"Having a hard target, grounded in realistic expectations, against which the organization would be measured, create[s] an incentive to do what [is] necessary to achieve the project's objective."
(Grawe, 91)
What are the explicit goals we can use to measure our success?
Healthy Urgency
"As we think through our tactical options, viewed through a strategic lens, accountability can be a source for healthy urgency: Some is not a number. Soon is not a time."
(Grawe, 91)
How are we creating accountability in our work to inspire a healthy urgency?
Accountability + Plan for Uncertainty
How can we use accountability to help us plan for uncertainty while also using that uncertainty to shape accountability measures?
Plan for Uncertainty + Strategies/Tactics
How can we use strategic vision to plan for uncertainty while also using that uncertainty to inform the tactics we use to enact that vision?
Plan for Uncertainty
Uncertainty of Future
"While we can be sure that demographics are changing, many uncertainties remain - in future patterns of college-going, families' willingness to pay, competitors' behaviors, cost structures, job markets, macroeconomic conditions, alumni support, and more."
(Grawe, 87)
What uncertainties are we facing as an organization?
Holistic Planning
"If the limits of time lead to a tactical-strategic mismatch, the result can be more failure, leading to yet another round of crisis-driven tactical conversations and leaving little space to discuss and settle on strategic adjustment."
(Grawe, 87)
How are we planning to maintain the match between our tactics (practices) and strategy (principles)?
Accountability + Strategies/Tactics
How can we ensure accountability in the tactics we use while also using our strategic vision to define accountability measures?