“A well-defined strategy is a prerequisite for continuous development, but even more important is the ability to put the strategy into practice.”
Strategy Consulting
A strategy is a plan to achieve long-term goals. A plan without action is a wish.
The importance of strategic planning is well understood. However, most companies are significantly better at managing the operative business than managing strategy. The strategic targets are set, but converting them into practical actions typically leaves room for improvement. Further, the follow-up of these actions over the whole strategy period is not always consistent enough. It is surprisingly common that the strategic goals are not achieved.
Granarium’s Ari Virtanen has designed and deployed strategies for many companies over the past decades. One key observation is that strategic planning is a fairly straightforward matter, which is often done in an overly complex way.
Ari’s approach is to help your company to bring clarity and simplicity to strategic target setting and advise on the process of both deployment and follow-up. When it comes to the working methods, Ari prefers a selected set of interviews, covering all the relevant representatives of owners, board and executive management. The process is always tailored to your needs, and it typically includes the following actions:
1
Define the desired change of the company over the strategy period.
2
Define the concrete actions which will implement the change.
3
Make sure there are enough people available with the right competences.
4
Arrange the follow-up of strategic targets, keeping in mind that they typically do not materialize in one year.
What People Are Saying
You can find the original quotes from LinkedIn.
“I worked closely with Ari at Nokia and he always balanced strategy with execution to achieve the right business outcome. He was very good at managing teams across geographies and well-respected by his team and peers.”
— Strategic and M&A advisor in the Silicon Valley
”I have been helping Ari and his team to systematize sales and sales management practices few years now. He is a strategic leader with exceptional ability to clearly communicate the business goals and motivate and support the teams in achieving them. He really knows what it takes to transform strategy into action.”
— Leading Solution Selling Head Coach