Page 84 - HBR Leader's Handbook: Make an Impact, Inspire Your Organization, and Get to the Next Level

74 HBR Leader’s Handbook

has integrated PBS KIDS 24/7 into regular planning and operations for all
PBS national units, and managers continue to work with content produc-
ers and curriculum advisers to refine the various offerings.
As a leader, you should embrace such tools, but don’t confuse technol-
ogy with human judgment or assume that more data analytics is all you
need: if you’re going to keep your strategy fresh and relevant, you must
keep challenging the organization with these questions: Why is a particu-
lar strategy working or not? Why are changes in markets opening up new
problems or opportunities? What, in fact, does that mean for our strategy
now—and tomorrow? Leaders lead strategy making by leading the learn-
ing that must continuously shape it, while also looking to reinvent it peri-
odically through more dramatic innovation over time. (For more on this,
see chapter 5.)

Are you ready to lead a strategy-making process?

Kerger brought good judgment and a willingness to help a passionate,
bottom-up, cross-functional team succeed in its development of a success-
ful new kids’ channel strategy. The team members’ willingness to collab-
orate and learn from each other, plus some fortuitous timing and even a
little luck, all contributed to that success. In the end, however, the most
critical factor was the disciplined problem-solving and iterative learning
approach Kerger encouraged the team to follow. Its analysis of markets
and opportunities, engagement with other leaders and experts across the
system, and then the continual refinement and improvement of the con-
cept that it developed over the course of a year allowed PBS to navigate key
strategic choices about where and how to create new and distinctive value
within its educational mission.
If you are an emerging leader in a larger organization, be alert to
strategy-making opportunities to build your knowledge and skills. You
might be invited—or raise your hand—to develop strategy for a new prod-
uct or create a localized strategy to start a process of innovation or some
broader transformation for your firm. Or you may have a chance to develop
a strategy outside the boundaries of a traditional corporate structure, for