WHY STRATEGIC DOING BEATS STRATEGIC PLANNING with Ed Morrison

Audio production by James Ede, Be Heard

My guest today is Ed Morrison. Ed directs the Agile Strategy Lab at Purdue University.

For the past 25 years, he’s worked on a new approach to developing strategies to address complex challenges.

His methodology is called “strategic doing,” and it emphasizes the strategic value of collaboration.

Ed brings a refreshing approach to strategy creation. He defines an effective strategy as a process of shared learning that has open participation and leadership guidance.

Ed avoids using the word vision, and he suggests that the main function of leadership today should be bringing people together and guiding them through the skill of asking better questions.

Fittingly, his credo is a question:

“Imagine if we had a world in which we can all contribute to building a sustainable future – what would it look like?”

If you are looking for an effective way to address any complex business challenge, you will definitely benefit from listening to this episode and reading Ed’s book, Strategic Doing.

Episode Highlights

In this interview, Ed and I discuss:

• The value of practice and discipline versus skimming the surface of things
• The need to slow down before going fast
• The benefits of creating a safe space for deep, focused conversations
• How power and hierarchy can stand in the way of collaboration
• What adaptive challenges are and why they require a platform where people can come together as equals to solve them
• How to frame a strategic conversation around opportunities rather than problems and what is the structure of framing questions
• The value of engaging people around what an ideal solution would look like
• The importance of thinking about what company you want to pass on to the next generations
• Culture as a set pattern of thinking, behaving and doing

Listen to the interview in the player below or on iTunes. If you like what you hear, please leave a review, and it may be featured on a future episode.

Audio production by James Ede, Be Heard

More about Ed Morrison

Ed Morrison directs the Agile Strategy Lab at Purdue University. For over twenty-five years, he has worked on a new approach to developing strategies for complex collaboration in open, loosely connected networks. Called “strategic doing,” this methodology emphasizes the strategic value of collaboration in today’s global economy.

His work won the first Arthur D. Little Award for excellence in economic development, presented by the American Economic Development Council.

Books mentioned in this episode:

Questions Are the Answer: A Breakthrough Approach to Your Most Vexing Problems at Work and in Life by Hal Gregersen
A More Beautiful Question: The Power of Inquiry to Spark Breakthrough Ideas by Warren Berger
The Fearless Organization: Creating Psychological Safety in the Workplace for Learning, Innovation, and Growth by Amy Edmondson