Strategic Navigation
A Systems Approach to Business Strategy
1st Edition
Published on 20. March 2024
330 pages
978-1-63868-169-4 (ISBN)
Description
This book demonstrates how the concepts of military strategy can be successfully applied to businesses of any size or industry, from family owned small-to-medium size to large corporations.
Dettmer begins the book by introducing the conceptual framework of military strategy and maneuver warfare, which dates back over 2,300 years to the time of Sun Tzu's The Art of War. He first explains how time-tested principles of war planning and military execution can readily be applied to non-military uses, such as commercial business, not-for-profit organizations, and government agencies, leading to considerable benefits in coherence and focus.
Dettmer then introduces a logical, systematic tool set to help you translate the military strategy "template" into action, which can then be applied to nearly any industry or business type. The system described by Dettmer is quick and easy to use, flexible enough to accommodate changes in the external environment, and supports the creativity of both strategists and executors. Finally, the book includes appendices that provide more detail on methods and some real-world examples.
More details
Person
H. William Dettmer has more than 25 years of leadership and management experience in operations and logistic environments and is a successful manager of multimillion-dollar projects and contracting activities. Dettmer is the senior partner at Goal Systems International. Formerly an adjunct faculty member at the University of Southern California, he has taught extensively at the graduate level on many topics relating to business management. Dettmer holds a B.A. degree from Rutgers University and an M.S. degree from the University of Southern California. Dettmer is also the author of nine previous books, including "Systems Thinking and Other Dangerous Habits" (Virtual Bookworm Publishing, 2022) and "The Logical Thinking Process: A Systems Approach to Complex Problem Solving" (ASQ Quality Press, 2006).
Content
- Intro
- Title Page
- Copyright Page
- Dedication
- Table of Contents
- List of Illustrations
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- Chapter 1: Traditional Strategic Planning
- Planning and Strategy
- The Failure of Strategic Planning
- To Plan, Planning, and Plans
- Strategy Formation: Schools of Thought
- The Deliberate (Traditional) Schools: Pros and Cons
- The Emergent (Contemporary Schools: Pros and Cons
- A Possible Solution: Synthesis
- Chapter 2: The Hoshin Strategic Model
- Planning, Doing, and Review
- Planning
- Doing (Part 1)
- Doing (Part 2)
- Reviewing
- Strategy Formation
- The Bureaucracy Pitfall
- Too Little Detail, or Too Much? A Way Out of the Dilemma
- Hoshin Kanri and the Schools of Strategic Thought
- Conclusion
- Chapter 3: The Military Strategic Planning Model
- Why the Military Does Planning
- How the Military Does Planning
- The Joint Strategic Planning System (JSPS)
- Strengths of the Military Planning System
- Weaknesses of the Military Planning System
- Boyd's Theory of Maneuver Warfare
- Conclusion
- Chapter 4: The Constraint Management Model
- Problems with Traditional and Contemporary Methods
- Problems with the Hoshin Approach
- Problems with the Military Approach
- Strategic Navigation
- Defining Strategy
- Characteristics of a Robust Methodology
- Deliberate, Emergent, or a Combination?
- Analysis and Synthesis
- A Synthesis of Theories
- The Constraint Management Model
- Seven Steps of the Constraint Management Model
- A Logical Strategy Development Process
- Logical Tools of the Constraint Management Model
- Maneuver Warfare, the OODA Loop, and the Constraint Management Model
- Cycle Time
- Competitive and Noncompetitive Environments
- Summary
- Chapter 5: Defining the Paradigm: System Boundary, Goal, Critical Success Factors, and Measures of Progress
- Determining the System Boundary
- Goal, Objective, or Mission?
- The Goal
- Critical Success Factors (Necessary Conditions)
- Two Types of Necessary Conditions
- Few But Critical
- Goal or Necessary Condition? Making the Right Selection
- Measuring Progress toward the Goal
- Constraint Management Measures
- The Use of Surrogates
- The Goal Tree (GT)
- An Example: Lucent Technologies
- Lucent's Goal and Critical Success Factors: A Post-Mortem
- Templates
- Conclusion
- Chapter 6: Knowledge, Creativity, and Idea Generation
- Knowledge
- Complexity
- The Role of Knowledge in Strategy and Execution
- The Johari Window
- Relevance of an Analysis Process to the Four States of Knowledge
- Sources of Knowledge for a Strategic Analysis
- Creativity
- Size versus Maneuverability
- How to Break the Chains Constraining Creativity
- The Crawford Slip Method
- Crawford Slip Workshop: An Example
- Conclusion
- Chapter 7: Analyzing the Mismatches
- Terror Attacks and America's Airlines
- Comparing Today's Performance against Future Requirements
- Strategic Current Reality Tree: An Example
- The Basics of Cause and Effect
- "Archimedes" Points
- How to Construct a Picture of the Status Quo
- A Consensus Picture
- Reviewing the "Big Picture"
- Resistance to Change
- Chapter 8: Creating a Transformation: Resolving Conflict
- The Inherent Nature of Conflict in Change
- Anticipating Resistance to a Change in Strategy: Three Dimensions of Feasibility
- Personal Resistance to Change: "Efrat's Cloud"
- Power Issues
- Eight Types of Power
- The Relationship between Change and Power
- Self-Reinvention: A Military Example
- The Evaporating Cloud
- The Strategic Evaporating Cloud
- Constructing an Evaporating Cloud
- Breakthrough Strategies
- Chapter 9: Sun Tzu and the Art of Modern Combat
- Translating Military Concepts to Business
- Levels of Engagement
- Strategy
- Operations
- Tactics
- Attributes of Strategically Responsive Forces
- Responsiveness
- Deployability
- Agility
- Versatility
- Lethality
- Survivability
- Sustainability
- Evaluating Your Strategy Using the Seven Attributes
- The Fundamentals of Military Operations
- Elements of Combat Power
- Evaluating Your Capability to Execute Strategy
- Principles of War
- Evaluating Strategy Using the Principles of War
- Tenets of Military Operations
- Evaluating Operations Using the Tenets of Military Operations
- Operational Framework
- Conclusion
- Chapter 10: Designing the Future: Laying Out Strategy
- The Frame and the Picture
- Framing Strategy
- Injections: The Initiators of Strategy Execution
- How to Construct a Strategic Future Reality Tree
- Creating the Picture to Put into the Frame
- METT-TC
- Gathering Inputs for METT-TC
- Sequence, Not Time
- "Bulletproofing" the Strategic Future Reality Tree
- The Dynamic Nature of Strategy
- Summary and Conclusion
- Chapter 11: Planning the Execution
- The Prerequisite Tree
- An Example
- How to Construct a Prerequisite Tree
- "Fleshing Out" the Prerequisite Tree
- "Projectizing" the Prerequisite Trees
- Critical Chain Project Scheduling
- The "Meta-Project"
- Summary and Conclusion
- Chapter 12: Putting It All Together
- Step 1: Define the Paradigm
- Step 2: Analyze the Mismatches
- Step 3: Create a Transformation
- Step 4: Design the Future
- Step 5: Plan the Execution
- Strategy "On the Wall"
- Step 6: Deploy the Strategy
- Step 7: Review the Strategy
- Sustaining the Process
- Measuring System Success
- Throughput, Investment, and Operating Expense
- Not-for-Profit Organizations and Government Agencies
- Conclusion
- Appendix A The Crawford Slip Method
- Appendix B U.S. Transportion Command
- Appendix C Wurtzberg Corporation
- Appendix D Case Study: Olympic AquaVentures
- Appendix E Strategic Conflicts (Examples)
- Appendix F Strategic Wisdom
- Glossary
- Bibliography
- Index
