Strategic Simplicity: The Engine of Autonomy in Business
A transparent and accessible business strategy can transform the effectiveness and independence of your teams.
We are at the second meeting of our series dedicated to creating autonomy in business. After exploring the importance of leading through context rather than content, today we delve into an equally crucial concept: a simple, clear, and transparent business strategy.
Simplify, simplify, simplify…
Imagine 2 types of companies, 2 cases I often encountered in my experience.
Those that define the strategy in an accurate and detailed manner through pages and pages of documents (which then remain on shelves or in drawers collecting dust);
Those very focused on execution where the only imperative is "to do" and the strategy is a nebulous element to be set aside.
Despite the differences, however, both types have in common the fact that:
they would like their teams and the people within the organisation to be autonomous in carrying forward their work.
Similarly, both (again) fail to achieve this goal for a common reason:
people and teams have difficulty understanding which decisions to make.
To ensure that people and teams are autonomous, it is necessary for everyone in the organization, when faced with a decision to make, to be able to make it quickly and based on understandable parameters.
In neither case, however, is this possible:
In the first case, in fact, the definition of the strategy is so complex that it cannot be assimilated and owned by the people;
The second, on the other hand, is not being clear and defined, people struggle or, even, never fully understand it.
Let's reverse this perspective for a moment.
Now imagine a company that has a strategy so intuitive that it can be understood by everyone, at every level of the organization.
This not only fuels team autonomy but becomes the beacon guiding every decision toward a common goal.
By the way, some studies show that organizations with clear and simple strategies enjoy greater efficiency and people engagement. According to a survey by Bain & Company, companies that apply principles of strategic simplification report an average increase of 35% in employee satisfaction and a 30% improvement in decision-making speed.
There is, in fact, a simpler way…
To counter the trend towards complexity, innovative methods such as the "Even Over" approach and "Strategic Statements" are emerging. These tools transform the strategy into clear and practical guiding principles, allowing everyone to interpret and act autonomously while remaining aligned with business objectives.
Even Over: this formula places 2 elements in a priority relationship.
For example: "innovation even over operational efficiency". Both elements are desirable and positive and formulating the strategy through sentences with 'even over' makes it clear to everyone in the organization which element to prioritize when such a decision needs to be made.
Strategic Statements: concise sentences that outline the priorities and core values of the company.
Examples could be "Our priority is customer satisfaction through continuous innovation" or "We value collaboration over internal competition".
How can you do this in your company?
In my experience, you could start with these elements:
Decide how your strategy is defined: create a template for the definition of the strategy both in terms of process and output. Decide what process you want to use, how it is written, and how it is communicated.
Alignment Workshops: organize work sessions dedicated to translating the strategy into "Even Over" principles or "Strategic Statements" or other simple ways of communicating it, involving representatives from every level of the organization so that it is possible for everyone to understand what has been decided and the direction to row towards.
The 3Cs: communicate, communicate, communicate: use infographics and diagrams to visually represent the strategy, making it accessible and understandable to everyone, and report the statements or strategy in the company's shared tools so that they are accessible to everyone at all times.
Being OK when it's not OK: not always do the decisions made produce the expected results. In these cases, the process we are setting up should be reinforced: through well-structured feedback, it should be understood which decision did not work and why, and the learnings should be transferred to the whole organization and condensed.
Check your strategy consistently: another problematic idea regarding strategy is that once defined it remains unchanged. It is vital, instead, to review, validate, and constantly update it both in its main part and in the communication we are using. Define moments when you review your strategy and its communication and repeat the alignment workshops following these if necessary.
Adopting a simple and transparent business strategy is not just an organizational need, it's a strategic choice that enhances team autonomy, decision-making speed, and engagement.
I invite every leader to reflect:
is your strategy a clear beacon or a complex labyrinth?
In the next article, we will explore how a clear guide to strategy execution through well-defined objectives and targets (OKRs) can further strengthen business autonomy and effectiveness.