Start at the Finish Line

When I work with a business on its strategy, I want to understand the destination before we start discussing the route.

Two questions usually sit at the beginning of that conversation: Why do we exist? And what is our end game?

They sound straightforward. Answering them properly can be surprisingly difficult.

Businesses can become very good at keeping themselves busy. Orders arrive, customers need attention, production schedules change and problems demand solutions. The diary fills up, the weeks pass and everyone works hard.

Yet activity alone tells us very little about whether the business is moving towards a future its leaders have deliberately chosen.

Some businesses have never really had that conversation. Others had it years ago, but circumstances have changed and the assumptions behind the original plan no longer hold. Different people may now be working towards different versions of success without realising it.

That is why I find those two questions so useful.

“Why do we exist?” asks us to look beyond the products we make or the services we sell. What do customers rely on us for? What do we contribute that matters enough for them to choose us? What would they miss if we disappeared?

For a manufacturing business, the answer might involve solving a difficult engineering problem, supplying dependable components or bringing specialist knowledge that helps a customer succeed. The important thing is that the answer reflects what the business actually does and the value people experience.

It should help us make decisions. A statement on the wall has limited value if it offers no guidance when we choose where to invest, which work to pursue or what standards to protect.

The second question, “What is our end game?”, brings the future into focus.

What are we trying to build? How will we recognise success? What do the owners want, and do those ambitions support a credible future for the business?

The answer will vary. One business may want to become a specialist in a clearly defined market. Another may want to develop the leadership and capability to operate across several sites. An owner may want to prepare for a future handover while ensuring the company can thrive beyond their involvement.

“Growth” on its own leaves too much unanswered. Growth in what, for whose benefit and with what demands on people, cash and capacity?

Clarity about the destination gives those discussions a useful reference point. It helps a board weigh opportunities and decide which ones deserve attention. It also gives people a reason to understand the choices being made, particularly when an attractive opportunity would take the business away from its intended direction.

Once that destination becomes clearer, we can work backwards.

What capabilities will we need? Which relationships will matter? Where are the gaps in our people, equipment or knowledge? What must we begin now because it will take years to develop?

This is where strategy starts to become useful in everyday work. Priorities become easier to explain. Investment decisions have a clearer purpose. Measures of progress tell us whether we are getting closer to the outcome we want.

Of course, the destination deserves review as we learn. Customers change, technology develops and new possibilities emerge. A considered strategy gives us a basis for adapting intelligently, rather than allowing every new pressure to determine our direction.

For me, starting at the finish line means taking the time to describe the future we want before committing ourselves to the journey.

It is a conversation worth having with the people who own, lead and contribute to the business. You may discover strong agreement. You may uncover differences that urgently need resolving. Either result is more useful than setting off with assumptions nobody has tested.

If you asked your leadership team why the business exists and what it is trying to achieve, how closely would their answers match?

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