A few notes from the discussion sessions
Below are some topics and takeaways from our discussion.
This is not a detailed transcription or summary, nor does it repeat topics already presented at the beginning of the Roundtable meeting.
- Developing a winning strategy requires some imagination, creativity and developing new ideas and insights.
- Brainstorming with teams and various stakeholders is very valuable. Not only to generate ideas and insights but also to get on the same page for further development of strategies, getting buy-in and preparing for the execution of the strategy.
- Without “bringing the outside in”, new insights and ideas will be limited. We need to have information like the following:
- (Future) customer needs and gaps in the market.
- Benchmarking with competitors and other service providers.
- A winning strategy has to be translated into local strategies to allow:
- Good fit with local circumstances, needs and challenges.
- Good agility, based on new insights and learning from all levels and teams of the company.
- In the end, a service transformation strategy will only fly when supported by the top management. Or – in other words – if it is part of the global company’s strategy.
- How to convince stakeholders to support your service strategy?
- Getting service on the strategic agenda of a manufacturing company is a journey of years. All best-in-class service-driven manufacturing companies went through such a journey in the last years (decade).
- It helps to “sell” the problem first, not the solution (service transformation).
- Buying into the problem or challenge articulates the compelling reason why to invest.
- Bringing in the voice of the customer about their future needs can help.
- It also answers the “what’s in it for me” question of critical stakeholders in your company.
- You may need to articulate your strategy in different ways for each stakeholder. Each stakeholder has different jobs to do, different challenges and different interests. How can you connect the dots for each stakeholder?
- In essence, there are two approaches to any change or transformation:
- The design approach:
The envisioned future state and roadmap to this future state are designed and mapped out to a considerable level of detail.
This works with changes we can predict well without many uncertainties. Most stakeholders recognise the envisioned future state and the journey from many cases in the industry.
For example:
- Implementing software systems.
- Business process redesign.
- The development approach
A high-level description of the direction and the first steps are articulated. Many steps include experiments to learn and gain new insights.
This is more appropriate for complex and lengthy changes for which we must navigate critical uncertainties and have few examples of best practices and proven cases.
For example:
- Shifts in the business model.
- Entering new markets.
- Big global problems like energy and sustainability.
- This includes service transformation.
