Post on 12-Jul-2015
Managing complexity is the key strategic challenge executives face
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Source: KPMG, Confronting complexity. Global report 2011
1,400 executives across seven industries in 22 countries
How to improve sales performance?
What do employees really want?
How to manage Gen Y better?
What’s the next big thing?
How to distinguish signals from noise?
How do we trigger real innovation?
‘It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble; it’s what you think you know for sure that just ain’t so’
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‘The minute we believe we’re successful and in control we become complacent. Past success limits our willingness and ability to recognise and adapt quickly enough to new paradigms.
Previous success breeds inevitable future failure - unless you do something different.’
‣ Alan Greenspan, former Federal Reserve Chairman in evidence to Congress (Oct 2008)
‣ Expressed “shocked disbelief” as global crisis was “much broader than anything I imagined”
‣ For “40 years” there had been “considerable evidence things were going exceptionally well.”
‣ Elite consulting firm founded by Michael Porter - the father of modern strategic analysis
‣ Applied rigorous analysis of market forces to explain excess profits in companies
‣ Collapse in 2012 demonstrated analysis explains success in retrospect, but doesn’t predict it.
Title quote attributed to: Mark Twain
“Developing effective strategies to deal with complexity requires integrating diverse insights, experience and expertise”
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Real experiences shared en masse (online, apps)
as anonymous micro-stories
Speed
Layers of meaning added at source by respondents
(not ‘experts’ or algorithms)
Reliability
Visualisation tools provide whole network perspectives for exploration and discovery
Cost
CONSUMER
GOVERNMENTBUSINESS
17%
7%
6%
3%
37%
21%
Title quote: Peter Ho, Senior Adviser for the Centre for Strategic Futures in Singapore
“Leaders who stay above the details may do well in stable times, but riding a wave of change requires an intimate feel for its origins & dynamics”
5Title quote: Richard Rumelt ‘Good Strategy/Bad Strategy; The Difference and why it Matters’
The main issue I face in my work is …
Workload Workload
RewardsManagement RewardsManagement
Department A Department B
Each blue dot contains a shared,
explorable experience
Discover evidence-based insights to
trigger genuine breakthroughs in how to respond effectively
Explore weak signals about emerging opportunities or threats - before it’s too costly or late to respond
SenseMaker® is enabling organisations globally exploit complexity better than their competitors
Govt. of SingaporeRisk Assessment & !Horizon Scanning
Early warnings on potential security threats !and scanning for other indicators of change
PfizerDriving Sales
Addressing issues with sales performance - !using insights to drive new sales strategies
Anglo AmericanMining Safety: !
A Business Imperative
Engaging multiple stakeholders to create genuine breakthroughs to the complex issue of mine safety
Major Utility (UK)Service Delivery Issues & Future
Investment
Uncovering trends and issues in satisfaction surveys; shaping proposals for future investment
UN Development ProgrammeMultiple Projects
UNDP staff efficiency; Discrimination against residents of Chernobyl; Integration of Roma
RSPP & KPMGTaking the !
Investor Perspective
Discovering what foreign investors really think of the business climates in Russia’s regions
IFC/World BankImpact Assessment
Developing benchmarks and piloting approaches for effective roll out of business harmonisation laws
Melbourne Business School
Evaluating Learning Programmes
Evaluating the impact of executive education interventions on careers
Major Auto Firm (US)Customer Perspectives
Generating insights from customer perspectives to improve interaction and increase retention
Projects conducted by member firms of the Cognitive Edge global network