Service Strategy & 7 Levers of Tranformation

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-

1. Create shared Vision & team of guiding Champions.
2. Formulate Service Strategy Plan
3. Build Integrated Service Organization: Clarify Goals &  Roles.
4. Build Capabilities: Knowledge, Process, Tools and Skills for Problem Solving, Innovation & Value Creation.
5. Process Integration & Measuring Quality: Mapping Processes & SLA’s to Value Creation and Customer Experience. 
6. Collaborative Space & Key Principles: Creating a Shared Context to Recognize the Gaps, and Leverage the potential for creative change.
7. Institutionalize:  Engage in Collaborative Communication to sustain the spirit of service, and Build a community of Service Culture.

These 7 Levers of Transformation help us shape the culture of service organization with a genuine desire to create value for our customers and in the long run build a Brand for Customer Loyalty.
 

Copyright Sunil P Rangreji