The environment in which your organisation is operating has become increasingly competitive, dynamic and uncertain. In response, your organisation’s mission and vision have been redefined, and a strategy to achieve the new vision has been developed. Informed by extensive market research and business intelligence, scenario and financial modelling, and risk assessments.
Your organisation now has a roadmap for the next 2 years, a translation of your strategy into concrete, prioritised steps and tactics towards achieving your organisation’s new vision. Charting the course of a series of actions to achieve the outcomes sought, mapping interdependencies, and depicting projected milestones and timelines. With the roadmap approved now the focus is on the day-to-day activities to reach each milestone. But is that really the case?
Imagine this, your organisation as a yacht in an offshore race, essentially navigating a competitive, dynamic and uncertain environment over a period of time, and what principles apply.
Offshore yacht race navigation, some principles
- Ensuring the consistent best positioning of the boat to take maximum advantage of wind and sailing conditions, getting it from point to point as fast as possible.
- Instruments correctly calibrated and adequate equipment for continual boat performance data collection, analysis and processing, also comparing current performance against predicted performance.
- Utilising the knowledge of your boat’s and crew’s performance in certain conditions when they arise – your strengths and weaknesses – based on past experience.
- Understanding your boat’s performance relative to that of the competition and their position in the race.
- Spotting opportunities in changing conditions well ahead of the competition, to ensure the appropriate sail or course change is made at the optimal time.
- Continually crunching the numbers and defining risk ratios associated with weather observations and forecasts.
- Your Navigator working closely with the Skipper and Tactician to regularly revisit your race strategy and tactics.
- Your Navigator providing direction on when or where the Skipper will need to make key decisions, supported by the right data and insights, for those potentially make or break moments in the race.
- Monitoring your boat and crew’s capability, responding to any gear failure or crew incapacitation and fatigue, charting courses that won’t break the boat or the crew.
- Having the confidence to take risks and sail your own race.
- If heading into unfamiliar waters, having someone with relevant, local knowledge and experience of the weather and sailing conditions onboard is an advantage.
This analogy underlines why road-mapping, like navigating an offshore yacht race, is always an ongoing process never an accomplishment.
