Service
Strategy & 7 Levers of Transformation:
At
the core of Service Strategy is the act of Transforming
resources in to Valuable Services. Strategy is about
understanding what you do, looking out over the long-term future to determine where
you want to be, and—most importantly—focusing on how you plan to get there. Strategy can be viewed as a blend of Art and Science. It is an art in that it requires creative thought, an ability to paint the big picture, define the Vision, and strong Leadership to inspire and engage all the stake holders. It is a science in that it requires managers to collect and analyze information that they can then turn into action. It involves building capabilities like process, knowledge, skills, tools etc to achieve the strategic goals. But translating strategy into reality is not a straight linear path, it involves recognizing the non linear patterns to see the gap between vision & reality i.e. art and science. According to management guru Peter Senge, this Gap between the Vision & Reality is not the problem as we think sometimes but it actually holds the potential for creative change. The real problem is in “not recognizing this gap and telling the truth about it.” In order to recognize the gap, we also need to Craft the Strategy to iterate between the strategy (art) and the implementation (science) which helps in seeing the non linear patterns and then connect the dots to bridge the gap.
According
to Prof. Henry Mintzberg, one of the main reason why strategies fail is “because of the assumption that thought must
be independent of action.” The key for Crafting Strategies is establishing
intimate connection between Thought & Action. The IT Infrastructure Library
(ITIL) Service Strategy framework is
based on the “4P Strategies” model defined by Prof. Henry Mintzberg. The 4P’s of Strategy i.e. Perspective, Plan, Positioning and Patterns merge the strategy
formulation and implementation in to a fluid process of Learning through which
creative strategies evolve.
All
Strategy making walks on two feet, one
deliberate, the other emergent. The
use of all 4Ps, recognizes both intended as well as emergent strategies. The real Transformation starts when we step out of the linear path of force
fitting intended strategies while we are implementing and building the
capabilities. Transformation involves looking at both the internal and external patterns and then positioning, refining the internal capabilities to
align with the emerging patterns.
7 Levers of Transformation:
The Levers of transformation propel us forward on
our journey of service excellence; the 7 levers of transformation help us to
cross over the linear path of vision to strategy to implementation. These
Levers equip us to look in, around & beyond
to recognize the non linear patterns and Leverage
these gaps as the creative tension and the potential energy for Transformation. The 7 Levers of Transformation are-- Create shared Vision & team of guiding Champions.
- Formulate Service Strategy Plan
- Build Integrated Service Organization: Clarify Goals & Roles.
- Build Capabilities: Knowledge, Process, Tools and Skills for Problem Solving, Innovation & Value Creation.
- Process Integration & Measuring Quality: Mapping Processes & SLA’s to Value Creation and Customer Experience.
- Collaborative Space & Key Principles: Creating a Shared Context to Recognize the Gaps, and Leverage the potential for creative change.
- Institutionalize: Engage in Collaborative Communication to sustain the spirit of service, and Build a community of Service Culture.
Copyright Sunil P Rangreji
