Recipes for Systemic Change - Helsinki Design Lab

Strategic Design23Strategic Design: Beyond VisionToday there is no lack of visionin the world, but vision alone is hardto act on. The difficulty of winningpolitical consensus on importantissues such as education, healthcare,and fiscal policy, to name a few,means that these conversations oftenremain at a fairly abstract level withspecific plans and proposals tuckedaway in piles of paper that few peopleever read. Nevertheless, when consensusdoes come, action follows and therein lies the dangersof having strong vision but fuzzy intent: someone will makespecific plans about what to do, but will the choices reflect theoriginal vision? Strategic intent is the glue that translates themotivating force of a grand vision into principles that can beused to make choices on a more discrete level. 2Because vision is often tightly coupled with individualleadership, it can also be hard to recognize that we are reallytalking about the same thing. Even when individuals appearto be agreeing about a particular vision of change they mayhave different ideas about how to get there. For instance, wemay buy into the notion that society should be diverse andwell integrated, but how do we achieve that vision of integration?Where do we start? And most importantly, what doessuccess look like?Between the motivating force of grand visions and thecomforting directness of specific plans lies an importantmiddle ground: strategic intent. When working on somethingnew, or in a new context, there inevitably comes a time whenone must make a choice without the luxury of precedent ordirective. In these moments when there is ‘nothing to do’ andno one to turn to, strategic intent is what guides action.Developing strategic intent benefits from an understandingof what drives value within a given context. It is also helpfulto be aware of existing barriers, as is devoting time to discoverprime opportunities for creating new value. Ultimatelythis yields a more complete description of the problem, whichthen enables one to more readily develop actions that deliverpositive impact.Abraham Lincoln put it well when he suggested that if hewere given six hours to chop down a tree he would spend thefirst four sharpening his axe. Vision, too, needs to be honed,VISIONWhy should we act?INTENT& What should be done?PLAN& How will we do it andwho should be involved?STEWARDSHIPFeedback loops that guidethe why, what, how, and who2—In their 1989 Harvard Business Reviewarticle ’Strategic Intent‘, Gary Hamel and C.K.Prahalad offer a succinct description: “Thegoal of Strategic Intent is to fold the futureback into the present… while [it] is clear aboutends, it is flexible as to means.” Although ourinterest is broader than innovation withincorporations, many of their observations haveset precedent and remain relevant to thediscussion in this book.