Strategy & Leadership in LO LO17209

Fred Nickols (nickols@worldnet.att.net)
Fri, 27 Feb 1998 12:45:07 +0000

Replying to LO17173 --

Simon Buckingham wrote:

>- - Strategy. Emergent. Unless you adopt an emergent strategy then you are
>likely to be close-minded to learning discoveries that deviate from
>expected outcomes and dictated strategy. Success is a journey not a
>destination, and the journey is [generates] the reward.

I'm going to question some wording here. I don't think one can adopt an
emergent strategy. I do think one can adopt a position that says,
strategy will emerge. But those are two different matters. "Emergent
strategy," a la Mintzberg, reflects what I think Simon is driving at
above; namely, that we have in mind an intended strategy which, after
encountering reality, is altered in various ways. The end result is
"realized strategy," which "emerges" from the pattern of decisions and
actions marking our travels through time.

Is that what you had in mind, Simon?

In any event, I happily commend to all, Henry Mintzberg's 1994 book, The
Rise and Fall of Strategic Planning. Also, if you're interested, there is
posted at my articles web site a rather extensive bibliography on
strategic planning and strategy formulation. You can access it via the
following URL:

http://home.att.net/~nickols/articles.htm

Once there, just scroll down to the strategic planning bibliography entry
and click on it...

-- 

Fred Nickols Executive Director Strategic Planning & Management Services Educational Testing Service Mail Stop 09-C Princeton, NJ 08541

Learning-org -- Hosted by Rick Karash <rkarash@karash.com> Public Dialog on Learning Organizations -- <http://www.learning-org.com>