Businesses Uncertainty

When the business executives were asked about their organization’s strategy or about the deceptive lack they responded that because of the varying operational environment they do not make strategies. Their argument is about the uncertain factors when developing a strategy.

This dispute is very common in high-tech sectors. It is considered as a mantra and a status which is taken as a pride. They justify by saying that in the high-tech world there isn’t enough time to stop over for developing strategies, it will develop over time expectedly.

It is implied that boring business bureaucrats in giant conglomerates engage in strategy building, where the future is not uncertain. For companies on growth stage, it seems, they have far more important things to do.

Though it sounds pretty interesting, but basically the argument is that with an uncertain present, one cannot make strategic decisions for the future. Though at some point of time in the future it might not be the same condition.

Giving a thought on what are the reasons behind such statement because uncertainty has always surrounded our lives. If we live in a tentative, rapid, tempestuous world nowadays, why should it be distinct a week, a month or a year from now? If the world is too timid to select a strategy today, what is it about the future that will make things more certain? At a point, do we declare the world to be precise for making crucial choices? How will we understand it is the right day? What measures to take, to reach the required level of certainty? Or we won’t be choosing it ever, because certainty is absolutely unattainable at any phase?

If one is using uncertainty as an excuse for not making strategic choices than do not forget that this could lead to great danger because the competition could be ready for a counter attack. There are various conditions like strategizing way towards first mover advantages and leaving few striking choices that can be catered to the market.

Those organizations which say that developing a strategy is a very uncertain step, are basically complaining about the fact of being blindsided by anything which comes unpredictably. They tell the same story that it wasn’t their fault, as the industry itself is very tentative and now it is very late to do anything constructive for the unforeseen event. This self-sealing logic absolves the leaders from their responsibility and they ensure not to take useful lessons from the experience. Despite of the fact that their firm crashes and gets beaten away by a competing firm in reality had a strategy. These type of leaders do not change and continue the same practice in other firms.

The truth is that every single firm has a strategy. Whether it develops a strategy unambiguously or not, the selections that it makes on a daily basis leads the firm working on a portion of the competing ground (i.e. choosing a where-to-play option) and contesting there with a unique style (i.e. choosing a how-to-win option). Every competing firm in the industry has a strategy despite of the uncertainty factor.