Blog #1 Failing to Prepare is Preparing to Fail

Ryan Gallagher

After diving into the assigned readings for this week, I couldn't help but be reminded of the famous John Wooden quote "Failing to prepare is preparing to fail". For those unfamiliar with Coach Wooden, he was a famous college basketball coach most well-known for winning 10 national championships in a brief 12 year time frame. Having played sports my entire life, this specific quote is one that I've heard more times than i can count throughout the years and is one I hold very close to me. I've always tried to adhere to this principle to  always have a plan for whatever role I had or goal I was trying to achieve. I think that this mindset of always having some sort of plan is very commonplace for those in the workforce, however the notion of having the right plan is not as common.  

"Your Strategy Needs a Strategy" by Martin Reeves, Claire Love, and Phillip Tillmanns reminded me just how important having the right strategy is. This class is my first real exposure to strategy development in a business environment and these first 2 weeks shed light on not only the importance of developing a strategy, but how crucial developing a strategy that is right for the business is. I can easily understand how strategists and executives can fall into the trap of developing a strategy for the mere sake of having one and not developing one that is specific to their business. This notion may be more relevant today than ever with the impact that Covid-19 is having.  Every company is now facing unforeseen challenges that were neither anticipated nor accounted for even just a few months ago. Companies that understand their industry's predictability and malleability are much better off than those who do not. Although these companies will still face many difficulties, an accurate depiction of their industry can help with adaptability to these circumstances.

 I work for a retailer and can say from first hand experience the havoc that Covid is having on the retail space. With the heavy restrictions that face most of the country, retailers are suffering from a lack of customer interaction in their stores.  Although a lot of online shopping happens, many retailers still rely on a bulk of their sales to come from their physical store locations.  In addition, not only are less customers buying from physical stores, but in most cases more customers are doing their shopping online. The increased online sales are definitely positive, however in order for these online sales to be successfully and efficiently met, the supply chain of the company must be able to adapt to the change. This directly relates to what the author's were discussing in the reading. Retailer's mainly fall in the adaptive approach meaning the industry is unpredictable and you can't change it.  Retailers who have a good understanding of this most likely have better strategies in place that will allow them to better adapt to the challenges of Covid.

References

Your Strategy Needs a Strategy (Reeves, Love, and Tillmanns, Harvard Business Review, September 2012)

https://norunnershigh.wordpress.com/2011/01/06/10-inspirational-quotes-from-john-wooden/