Agile strategies for a new context

"Strategy is the ex post rationalization of coherent tactics"

                                              Bill Fischer, of Sloan School of Management do MIT

 

Strategy is "a set of options to win" or, more specifically, an integrated set of choices that uniquely positions the company in its sector in order to create sustainable advantage and superior value in relation to the competition.

                                                                                                                                              The autors of Playing to Win AG Lafley and Roger Martin

 

Health organizations have been facing a prolonged period of uncertainties, challenging economic conditions, disruptions in work plans, social fragility, increased competition, changes in user behavior, which causes managers to dynamically change the course of the strategy for the repositioning of the organization. We have to be aware that the static world lived until the end of 2019 does not exist anymore.

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Recent research shows that health is the main cause of concern for people, lagging behind economic issues such as unemployment and insufficient income. The World Health Organization recognizes that it is essential to guarantee universal coverage through health promotion, protection and recovery.

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In this context, the strategy becomes more important than ever, but in a different way than we traditionally think: it must be conceived, developed and executed in a more inclusive, dynamic and creative way.

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Strategy is a personal effort and its success depends in large part on how much it is capable of changing the way people think, feel and act.

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Discussing strategy, questioning it, analyzing possibilities and anticipating the market is intrinsic to managers and must be carried out dynamically. It is necessary to maximize human contribution, instead of enforcing rules. In practice, this means finding a way to encourage participation.

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Faced with this challenge, many organizations have accomplished these difficult tasks and achieved positive results in record time, through:

 

• Relocation of professionals;

• New business models - digital health, primary care ...;

• Development of new products.

 

The speed of decision-making had to keep pace with increases in workflow and the use of technology, accelerating changes in the scope and scale of innovation, and believe me, it worked.

 

The secret to the success of the good results was the speed in getting things done quickly without losing quality. Organizations removed boundaries and broke down barriers in ways that no one thought possible. They simplified decisions and processes, empowered frontline leaders, and eliminated unnecessary hierarchies and bureaucracies.

 

Nobody can predict the future, however it is possible to ask questions, explore new paths and experiment, as a way to avoid falling into the trap of blind trust in old models.

 

The COVID-19 pandemic may be just a catalyst to renew the way the strategy is practiced, however we know that this will require qualification and willingness to experiment.

 

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Dr. Bruno Cavalcanti Farras
Dr. Elizabeth Reis

Mara Machado