Is it right to campaign against a strategic decision?

Submitted by Mark Walsh
in
Management and Leadership

Is it right to campaign against a strategic decision, the conclusion of which is terminating my activity? Although I think this strategic decision is misguided, and I may lose my job, I believe that the professional thing to do is to implement the company strategy. I also believe that my chances of being retained by the company elsewhere are higher if I’m seen to do the professional thing, rather than serve my own interests by trying to secure my current position. Of course, I might be wrong. In which case, hello Career Tools!

Our CEO stated at a recent management conference, in response to a question from my boss, that we don’t want to do <x>, where <x> is what my boss and his team are involved in. There has not been any focus on <x> for some time and I believe that we should therefore actually implement the stated strategy by winding-down <x>.

I’ve been coaching my manager to use the SOCCR model to approach our COO at a decision briefing, to ask for a decision to commence a formal winding-down. There are 2 counter-arguments:

  1. Winding-down <x> could impact reciprocal business with our Partners. The likely outcome is that we will not decide to formally wind <x> down, rather we would probably let it wither and die. That is the difficult situation we are in at the moment, such that the Partners ask questions that are difficult to answer truthfully (such as, "What are you doing about <x>?"). The alternative is to really put our backs into <x> and try for success. That is unlikely since that is overtly contrary to our “strategy”.
  2. My peer convinced our boss yesterday that we should not campaign for the formal winding-down because all of our jobs would be affected. True, and contrary to my better instincts. We discussed that if this is we how we truly feel, we should cancel the decision briefing and not ask for the decision.
Whilst I’m concerned for my job, I suspect that if we appear to be opposed to any winding-down, it will come across as self-serving.
 
I’m really bothered by this issue and would appreciate the forum’s wisdom.
Mark
Submitted by John Hack on Thursday July 22nd, 2010 7:44 pm

If this is truly the strategic decision, you should not campaign against it.  Check, and Mate.  
You should, however, confirm that this is in fact the case.  You weren't at the conference, presumably.  Your boss may be paraphrasing.  The CEO may sell your division to another firm.  He may re-deploy your teams to another business area.  Or he may simply have been testing your boss to see how he reacts.  
You need to do several things: 
1. Take care of your career.  Make sure your network is ramped up, your resume is up to date, and you've been preparing yourself according to the interview series (a super bargain at twice the price!)
2. Take a hard look at your business [x].  Pretend you're a private equity firm looking to acquire:  cash flow, balance sheet, revenue, market share, trends (yours and the market).  What's the fair price for this business?  Assets + NPV (expected future cash flows).  If you and your boss don't know the value of your business, it's a worthy exercise.  
3.  confirm your CEO's intention:  Take your business analysis to him, and ask the hard question:  Would you like us to position the unit for sale, to wind it down, or to completely revamp its mission.  It would be very handy if you had another mission or two to which your group's skills could be effectively deployed (adjacent business, etc).  His reaction will be very informative.  SOCCR may not result in winding down as your best option.
4.  Accept your fate.  You must put the interests of the firm above protecting your jobs.  If the CEO wants to shut you down, refusing to prepare a plan for that eventuality won't save your jobs.  That's simply denial. 
The differentiator here is you treating the unit as an asset with value, that has real options (continue, sell, wind down, redeploy).  Going to the CEO with a gimlet-eyed analysis is your best approach. 
And be ready for a job/career change.
John Hack

Submitted by Mark Walsh on Friday July 23rd, 2010 2:25 am

Thanks for your comprehensive answer, John. I always look forward to your contributions in the forums; I kinda hoped you'd see my posting.
What did the CEO actually say? Indeed. I suggested to my boss that not only did we not really know what he meant when he said, "I don't want to be <x>", but for the 50 or so people there were in the audience, there were probably 50 different interpretations of his statement.
Yes, both the interviewing series and the resume service are fantastic value-for-money.
Mark

Submitted by Jeffery Bock on Friday July 23rd, 2010 12:52 pm

Not related to the question, but what is SOCCR? From the context, I would guess some kind of scenario analysis, but the term is unfamiliar to me and I couldn't find anything descriptive on the internet (other than tons of references to the carbon cycle report).
 
 
 

Submitted by Mark Walsh on Saturday July 24th, 2010 9:37 am

Yes, I should have used the correct acronym in the first instance - SOCRR. Sorry.
Mark

Submitted by Laurence East on Wednesday August 11th, 2010 3:40 am

I have had the same dilemma! On a few occasions! Whilst I have no silver bullet, let me first set out my recommended tactics followed by my hard won experience. This way you can see for yourself if the advice is pertinent.

Tactics:
1) REMEMBER you do not have access to the same information as those higher in the food chain.
2) Set out your objections (l,m,n) to close (x) ,on paper – do not distribute!
3) Set out the corporate strategy as the CEO, COO, CIO, etc. would see it.
4) Consult with people at the conference. Even the CEO if you already hold a relationship with them – don’t undermine your boss.
5) Ask yourself if your objections should be such in light of the GREATER GOOD (SOCRR would have been of use at this point).
6) If
{After this exercise you can see why x should be closed}
Then
{Ask superiors how you can help the company achieve it’s desired objective to close down x in the most effective way; break;}
Else
{Your objections still hold; /*the hard bit!*/ Go to 7);}
7) As Winston Churchill said “I was prepared for martyrdom but preferred it were delayed” – you most probably will not win in this; but try to delay martyrdom by the following:
8) State your case to decision makers:
a. “I understand the move to close x from y and z perspective, AND I have a couple of things I’d like clarification on: (l,m,n)”
b. Listen
c. Respond in light of the strategy, not your personal position.
d. Listen
e. Accept whatever is decided and get on board.
f. Don’t try and create your own side project for when their initiative goes wrong. This is actually from an MT pod; I learnt this the hard way before I had heard of MT!

To qualify or disqualify the above advice, I give you two of my experiences, summarised below in bullets.

1) Large tripartite outsourcing project, my job was potentially affected although, with that aside, I deemed it to be bad strategy.
a. I sought clarification based on strategy.
b. The project went ahead anyway.
c. I got asked to project manage the activity.
d. The activity was not a huge success despite my greatest efforts over a stressful year.
e. (Often times I wish I had just left; although the lessons I learnt from this project continue to help me to this day and I’ve devised two successful outsourcing agreements since – your choice)
2) Programme devised by new CIO and new general manager for a ground up bespoke financial system – read emperors new clothes.
a. I was a sign off on this one, but could not see how the supplier could guarantee fixed price based on the RFP.
b. I sought clarification from CIO and general manager.
c. A month review was conducted on the approach, ending in a revised pitch.

Hope it all turns out okay for you.

Laurence

PS If you can’t tow the strategic line be very careful – Read walk the line….