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During the last 15 years of acting in multiple positions in various organizations and seeing the many ways strategy work, strategic planning and strategy execution are done, few topics keep reoccurring in strategy talk. In the following series of four blog posts, I am sharing three typical stories from organizations’ point of view. The stories shared are based on real life and experience, but none represent a single case as such.

Continuous renewal is a necessity. While one might argue differently for any one company, the statistics are brutal as summarized in this Harvard Business Review article based on research by Vijay Govindarajan and Anup Srivastava: the rate of corporate death due to sticking with "business-as-usual" is really, really high.

What kind of combination of traits would be good in foresight work? We wrote earlier about the tools, the ground rules, and different uses of market foresight. Here's one type of view on what could make a good combination for foresight and market tracking work, with some strategy execution also in mind.

Living with a strategy sounds easier than it perhaps is. After the strategic targets are set, they need to be communicated extensively, translated into smart milestones and goals, and committed to by the entire organization.

Oh boy. A new study by Maarika Maury in Finland highlights that only 13% of top management, 8% of middle management, and a sad 2% of other employees are able to articulate the strategy of the company as it stands. 

Market foresight is one of the key factors in crafting any organization’s strategy. Naturally, different organizations have different needs when it comes to strategy but the essence of any strategy needs to be about building the future of the company. Thus, strategic planning should always include consideration of possible and probable futures in the organization’s relevant business environment.

If we lived in a society that had no one looking ahead of the present, we would soon get stuck in an everlasting loop of stagnation. Fortunately, we live in a society quite the opposite: a plethora of people, businesses, communities, and every other actor imaginable are rigorously working to make their dent in the universe, thus forever disabling the status quo.