MBA Guest Lecture on Strategy Execution
The director of the University of Canterbury MBA program asked me to deliver a guest lecture on Strategy Execution this week.
He wanted a presenter who could deliver a 1-hour “practitioner’s view” to the MBA class, which comprised business leaders from private companies, not-for-profit enterprises, and some very large State Owned Enterprises. Here is my After Action Review:
What actually happened?
Strategy Execution is a vast subject, so I cherry-picked a selection of tools and principles that I find useful in my work with clients (entrepreneurial growth firms). Here’s what I covered in my 1-hour virtual lecture:
- Why choosing your Target Customer is the most important strategic decision you can make
- Strategic decision-making and the importance of trade-offs
- Less is more (the importance of focus)
- Using pre-mortems to properly scope out Strategic Projects
- How to run effective strategy execution meetings
- How to track Metrics(KPIs) the right way
- How to hold people accountable
What went well?
- The content seemed to resonate well with the class
- It was a good opportunity to test presentation materials from the new online management training courses I am building (see below)
- My wife Bianca builds my slide decks and creates my video presentations. She makes me look good!
What could have gone better?
- Less is more! This is a lesson I still need to master. Once again, in my eagerness to deliver value, I packed too much content into the time allowed. I only left 5 minutes at the end of my presentation for questions from the audience and ran out of time to answer all their questions. In hindsight, I probably should have presented for 45 minutes, and allowed 15 minutes for interactive Q&A.
Next steps?
Continue building and recording the training modules for my online training course on Strategy Execution. I already have clients working through training modules on “Meaningful Metrics (KPIs)” and “Implementing Projects & Tasks”. The next module I am recording in the filming studio is “Meetings With Impact”. Watch this space!
Here is a brief soundbite of what I presented:
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Until next time…
Stephen
Stephen Lynch is the author of the award-winning book; “Business Execution for RESULTS: A practical guide for leaders of small to mid-sized firms” winner in the “Management” category of the 2014 Small Business Book Awards in the USA.
He’s also written articles on strategy and management for The Economist magazine.
Need a Strategic Plan Facilitator for your next planning session? A Business Coach to help you scale your business? Management Training to upskill your team? Contact Stephen to discuss your needs.