Corporate Strategy at “RdeO Consulting.”

Thousands of books have been written about strategy. We favor and ground our approach on the following four:

• Strategy, by Michael Porter.
• Only the Paranoid Survive, by Andy Grove
• Good to Great, by Michael Collins
• Obliquity, by John Kay

We first sit down with management and try to build a consensus on how to define the task at hand: what are we try to solve?

A definition:

• What strategy is not. First, strategy is not a goal. Something like, “we want to capture a 5% market share.” Not a strategy. Second, strategy is not a wish like “we aim at growing our retail business.” This is an outcome of strategy. Finally, stategy is not a general statement of intention, “ be a force for good.”
• Strategy gets build around a two-step process.

• A diagnostic: how are we preforming against our peers? This must be a ruthlessly honest assessment of our competitive position. What makes us different? What obstacles must we overcome to perform at the best of our abilities?
• A list of specific actions: what must we do to overcome these obstacles and build a unique position in the eyes of our clients?

The outcome:

• What do we do and for whom?
• Why do we do it?
• What are the actions we must take to answer these questions in a unique way?

At RdeO Consulting, we believe in the Socratic method- questions after questions. None of these questions, deceptively simple, are easy to answer. We stand there, alongside the leadership teams, to get these questions addressed to their own satisfaction.