Srategic triangulation past, present and possible
Transcript of Srategic triangulation past, present and possible
NAVIGATING the PAST, PRESENT and FUTURE
Strategic Triangulation
The Concept of Triangulation
• CONCEPTUAL triangulation is the use of three distinct yet related ideas that permit greater insight into each of the elements (analysis) as well as the resulting combination of elements (synthesis).
Idea 1
Idea 2 Idea 3
Past-Present-Possible Triangulation Principles• Principle 1: Every
organization’s past, present and possible (future) are active all the time– The past includes all the
historic RESULTS that an organization may have achieved AND our understanding of those results (which changes over time)
PAST
PRESENT POSSIBLE
Past-Present-Possible Triangulation Principles• Principle 1: Every
organization’s past, present and possible (future) are active all the time– The present includes all those
RESPONSES (utilizing tangible and intangible resources) that are being made today to achieve future results we desire
PAST
PRESENT POSSIBLE
Past-Present-Possible Triangulation Principles• Principle 1: Every
organization’s past, present and possible (future) are active all the time– The possible involves all the
future REPOSITIONING effects we desire from our present responses.
PAST
PRESENT POSSIBLE
Past-Present-Possible Triangulation Principles• Principle 2: The past,
present and possible are connected in terms of– What we OBSERVE– What we UNDERSTAND– What we DECIDE– How we ACT
PAST
PRESENT POSSIBLE
O
U
D
A
Past-Present-Possible Triangulation Principles• Principle 2: The past,
present and possible are subjective evaluations, not mere “facts.” At individual, interpersonal and institutional levels we create meaning, not simply discover it.
PAST
PRESENT POSSIBLE
O
U
D
A
Past-Present-Possible Triangulation Principles• Principle 3: Strategic
triangulation involves applying the art, science and craft of strategic thinking to enhance, deepen, broaden and sharpen the ways we deal with the past, present and possible.
PAST
PRESENT POSSIBLE
O
U
D
A
Ideas for Strategic Triangulation
• What follows are “strategic thinking triangles” that are designed to encourage strategic thinking by bringing together a triangle of ideas that capture both the distinctive nature of past, present and possible dimensions an organization faces and the ways those dimensions interact to create the organization building blocks, boundaries and barriers that “feed” an organization’s strengths and limitations as it encounters its opportunities and threats.
•Three related ideas•Organizational strengths and limitations
•Environmental opportunities and threats
•Building blocks, boundaries and barriers to strategic success
Strategic Triangles
PAST PRESENT POSSIBLE
Analysis Action Anticipation
Becoming Behaving Believing
Calibrating Communicating Conceptualizing
Dissecting Doing Dreaming
Evaluating Embracing Extending
Fact-finding Forging Futuring
Gathering Growing Germinating
Head Hands Heart
Investing Initiating Imagining
Judging Joining Jettisoning
Questions to investigate for each strategic trio of ideas:1. How can each idea
contribute to your understanding of strategy?
2. What impact might each of the ideas have on your understanding of the other ideas in the trio?
3. Taken together, what do the ideas share as a common theme (or themes)?
4. What are the potential building block, boundary and barrier issues suggested by each idea or some combination of the ideas?
Strategic Triangles
PAST PRESENT POSSIBLE
Keeping Kneading Kindling
Learning Leveraging Leaving
Mindset Methodology Mind-mapping
Nurturing Navigating Networking
Organization Operations Opportunities
Preservation Performance Prediction
Quantification Quickness Quest
Reflecting Responding Repositioning
Selecting Succeeding Seeking
Tracking Transforming Testing
Questions to investigate for each strategic trio of ideas:5. What are the
strength/limitation and opportunity/threat issues suggested by each idea or some combination of the ideas?
6. How would each of the strategic ideas lead us to define strategic success and strategic failure?
7. How do each of the ideas help us better understand the nature of an organization’s past, present and possibility dimensions?
Strategic Triangles
PAST PRESENT POSSIBLE
Understanding Undertaking Underwriting
Valuing Viewing Venturing
Wealth Work Wondering
eXceptional eXcellent eXtraordinary
Yoking Yielding Yearning
Zoning Zeroing in Zealous
Questions to investigate for each strategic trio of ideas:8. How do each (or the
combination) of the trio of ideas help us broaden our strategic observations, deepen our strategic understanding, sharpen our strategic decisions and energize and focus our strategic ideas?
9. Can you think of a better (more fruitful, more precise) word idea for any of the trio of ideas?
10.Do you see any strategically stimulating relationships between one or more of the idea trios?