7 Steps to Make Scientific Strategy

The article Bring Science to the art of strategy introduces us 7 steps to make scientific strategy . The author calls it possibilities-based approach.

The first step is to move from issues to choice. Strategists need to try to explore and test possible solutions rather than focusing on the issues to be addressed.

The second step is to generate full range of strategic possibilities. Desired output, the people, the rules are critical factors in the process of generating possibilities. Desired output does not need data to prove. However, it should be specified in detail the advantage to achieve, the scope and the activities instead of just an idea or motto in the high level. Normally, three to five possibilities will be considered in depth. The team that takes the responsibility of figuring out strategic possibilities should represent a diversity of backgrounds.

The third step is to specify the conditions for each possibility to be a terrific choice. The author gives a framework to generate the necessary conditions. The framework contains competitor analysis, industry analysis , customer-value analysis and business model analysis. After all kinds of conditions are generated in the list, the list should be reviewed, and all must-have conditions should be maintained.

The fourth step is to identify the barriers to choice. Those conditions that are least likely to hold true can be regarded as the barriers to that possibility. And ordered list of barriers to each possibility can be written down.

The fifth step is to design tests for those barrier conditions. Each condition should be tested to see whether it holds true. The member who is most skeptical about a given condition should be selected to conduct the test.

The six step is to conduct the tests. The author suggests ‘the lazy man’s approach to choose’, which means that the condition that is least like to hold up should be test first. This is a clever approach since it can save enormous time and money. Depth instead of breath is necessary for the analysis. Since tests cannot eliminate all the uncertainty, it is important to compare the risk of the best option and risk of the status quo before making the choice.

The last step is to choose the strategy. Possibilities-based approach makes the decision easy since the decision-maker only needs to review the analytical test results and choose the possibility that faces the fewest barriers.

 The author uses P&G case to illustrate the core arguments. Here, I want to apply the approach to the Ben &Jerry’s Homemade Ice Cream Case. Instead of focusing on the issue of addressing Ben & Jerry’s current competitive difficulties, the decision-maker at Ben & Jerry’s needs to figure out how many possibilities they are facing. It has several options. First, it can produce new-flavors of ice-cream especially ice-cream with low fat to meet the needs of consumers. Secondly, it can acquire other small producers of ice-cream in the market that meet the low-fat trend of the market to expand its production line. Thirdly, individual customization. In their franchised retail stores known as scoop shops, the company can let customers to choose to add flavor and ingredients in their ice-cream by themselves.

After listing all the possibilities, they can generate the list of conditions and figure out must-have conditions and barriers. The conditions include the prediction of competitors’ reaction, their financial capabilities, customer’s preferences and their unique social mission.