What is strategic artistry, and how does it relate to the serving the stew philosophy?
This is a right-brain approach to strategy that enhances the left brain. Most business strategies are about numbers, forecasts, projections and spreadsheets, while strategic artistry is about creativity — feelings, relationships, finding the muse and having fun. It’s finding what’s right and doing more of it. The stew is part of this process.
For example, if you look at the movie ‘Avatar,’ it couldn’t be created until the specific technology was evolved. In one sense, you’re looking at highly left-brained items such as 3D technology, but on the other hand, you have this artistic vision that went into creating the most successful movie of all time.
The same can be said for Apple products, such as the iPad and iPhone. You combine this technical left brain with this artistic right brain to see what kind of results you can have.
What are some of the benefits and risks of strategic artistry?
The benefits are that you can become innovative and generate more ideas because you’re focused on the positives and strengths. Businesses often spend so much time focused on problems, compliance, taxes and other issues, so being able to focus on the creative opens up a lot of opportunities.
It also creates organizational focus. You can really focus on the stew and special sauce once you determine those items, and everyone in your company will have something in common. Customers also know it, so they know what to expect of you. It gives you an opportunity for real, authentic differentiation.
The risks are that you may take your eye off the ball on some of the mundane business tasks you have to do. You still need to execute as a company, and you can’t stop doing it.
The greatest risk is that you don’t find something special with your company, and that’s scary. Then it becomes about how you can actually do something that’s special.
What steps can businesses take to begin practicing these philosophies and incorporating them into their business practices?
The first step is to determine what the stew and special sauce are and use this creative artistry process to do it. Discover what your customers really love about you that your competitors don’t do.
Then you need to get agreement and alignment as an organization around that special sauce and stew. The leadership starts it, but there has to be some sort of agreement and alignment because it has to be authentic.
Then you find more ways to do it, sprinkle the special sauce on everything you do, look for the ‘bright spots’ and communicate it across the world so everyone can understand what it is that makes your company special.
Joe Cullinane is an adjunct faculty member at Northern Illinois University. Reach him at (650) 391-9725 or [email protected].