18th March 2016
Expert Advice: Good Insight – Three keys to releasing the power of strategic conversations
Three keys to releasing the power of strategic conversations
Bring people with experience and expertise together and you have a powerful resource. Add motivation and you have huge potential for change. Use it wisely and you release profound strategic impact. So why do we often miss the opportunity and end up with just another meeting?
In our experience there are three key keys to releasing the power of strategic conversations, whether they are large-scale events or team sessions:
- Clear purpose
- Selected membership
- Deliberate design
However, we tend to operate on default settings for the first two and underestimate the value of the third.
Clear purpose
Being crystal clear and explicit about why we are holding this particular session and what outcomes we want to achieve is foundational. If we cannot articulate this in a way that drives what we do, then we are wasting time and will never release the full potential of collective insight and engagement.
Even when we think it’s obvious, it is open to interpretation and misalignment of expectations. Having a strategic conversation that does what it sets out to do is amazingly powerful and energises everyone in the process, but it does take input.
Selected membership
Who needs to be involved? If this is a strategic conversation – as opposed to operational – then the decision needs to be more deliberate and even courageous. Who needs to be there who is not normally in the room?
We won’t shape the future or find the next breakthrough with the same thinking that got us here. We need different voices and maybe some of the voices in different combinations. Being able to articulate why they are present gives permission for distinctive contributions. But too many is simply too many.
Deliberate design
Outstandingly good strategic conversations don’t just happen. Rigorous thought in design and preparation is vital. This is more than a nice venue and inspiring contributions. It’s about how we harness the collective insight, generate synergy and provoke innovation, having the courage to reject ‘death by PowerPoint’. We need to think differently and talk about the things that really matter. So how can we enable people to cross boundaries and shift mind-set?
- Preparation – what is needed for this to work well? For example, context setting, analysis and what we need to hear from participants so they arrive ready to engage.
- Space – this needs to be different to where we normally do operational work otherwise we perpetuate the same thinking processes and behaviours.
- Voice – how can we enable everyone to hear their own voice in the room early on? This is vital if we are going to set a different tone for contribution.
- Shape – we often try to cram in as much as possible, not paying attention to the ebbs and flows of energy in the room. Recognising these natural rhythms and working with them will enable people to maintain engagement and have the courage to think differently. Less is more and variation is definitely powerful.
- Sense making – planning pause points for individual and group reflection and capturing the important issues affects the long-term impact of these sessions. Without this much will simply evaporate.
- Creativity – we cannot address these complex, ambiguous and messy issues without stepping outside of our normal thought processes. Using stories and assessing what will enable this particular group to see things differently, will give them the best platform for insight – even if they find it slightly uncomfortable at first.
- Execution and accountability – we need to plan in the ‘so what?’ otherwise we miss the next steps and wonder why we haven’t made progress.
Conclusion
We can do so much more than simply exchange information and opinion when we come together for big conversations. How much more depends on what we are prepared to invest in designing outstanding strategic conversations and which boundaries we are prepared to push.