The importance and indispensability of strategy, strategic planning, and strategic management has been proved and validated over the years and, in fact, over the centuries. Yet, some organisations are not always readily open to embracing a culture of strategic management. We wish to ensure that the Lagos State Public Service is not one of those organisations and further than that, strategic planning and the propensity to innovate become ingrained into the innermost fabric of the service such that long after our own years of service have passed, the Lagos State Public Service will remain positioned to compete with her peers, not only in Africa, but also globally.
It has been said that “public institutions represent a major investment for a country. Their existence is externally justified and primarily aimed at improving the lives of citizens. Much hype has been made on increasing the accountability in government and public institutions. To achieve their goals with transparency to its constituency, an institution must think and act strategically. This requires the use of strategic planning models and framework.” In the same way, I posit that the map to a ‘better place’ for the Lagos State Public Service is a culture of strategic management coupled with an innovative spirit.
From the thoughts of a leading management consultant, Mr. Mark Rhodes, first, an effective strategy should be deeply understood and shared by the organisation.
Like the mission statement published in the annual reports or guiding principles framed in the lobbies of organisations, a strategic plan itself accomplishes nothing. What matters is whether the people of your organisation understand and internalise the strategic direction you have articulated and can make tactical choices on their own. Strategic plans must be articulated in a manner such that operational and tactical decision-making can follow suit.
Furthermore, the leading strategist must count on the employees or members of the organisation to make sound tactical and operational decisions that are aligned with the desired strategic direction. To ensure that these decisions are well made, the articulated strategic direction and strategic plans must be applicable and clearly related to the issues that people face.
It is always helpful to remember that an effective strategy provides a picture of the desired long-term future. In order to make sound day-to-day decisions, all members of the organisation must be able to begin with the end in mind. All steps must ultimately keep the company on course toward the long-term objective.
In the second place, an effective strategy allows flexibility so that the direction of the organisation can be adapted to changing circumstances.
In the third place, effective strategy results from the varied input of a diverse group of thinkers and participants in strategic decision-making must be unafraid to state contrary opinions.
In the fourth place, an effective strategy follows a thorough and deep analysis of both the external environment and the internal capabilities of the organisation.
Finally, an effective strategy is one that identifies areas of Competitive Advantage.
What does the Lagos State Public Service stand to benefit from institutionalising a culture of strategic management and innovation? In an article titled ‘Introduction to Strategic Management,’ Ryszard Barnat listed the benefits of strategic management for organisations such as the Lagos State Public Service as follows:
(a) It provides a way to anticipate future problems and opportunities;
(b) It provides officers with clear objectives and directions for the future of the organisation;
(c) It results in more effective and better performance compared to non-strategic management organisations;
(d) It increases officers’ satisfaction and motivation;
(e) It results in faster and better decision making and;
(f) It results on cost savings.
Moreover, Ryszard also stresses that strategic management offers the following process and personal benefits:
(a) It allows for identification, prioritisation, and exploitation of opportunities;
(b) It provides an objective view of management problems;
(c) It represents a framework for improved coordination and control of activities;
(d) It minimizes the effects of adverse conditions and changes;
(e) It allows major decisions to better support established objectives;
(f) It allows more effective allocation of time and resources to identified opportunities;
(g) It allows fewer resources and less time to be devoted to correcting erroneous or ad hoc decisions;
(h) It creates a framework for internal communication among personnel;
(i) It helps to integrate the behaviour of individuals into a total effort;
(j) It provides a basis for the clarification of individual responsibilities;
(k) It gives encouragement to forward thinking;
(l) It provides a cooperative, integrated, and enthusiastic approach to tackling problems and opportunities;
(m) It encourages a favourable attitude towards change and;
(n) It gives a degree of discipline and formality to the management of an organisation.
I can readily think of a number of insightful epigrams that validate the need for strategic thinking and management in both organisational and private lives. It is already accepted wisdom that “In absence of clearly defined goals, we become strangely loyal to performing daily acts of trivia.” Thus, the famous genius, Albert Einstein said, “If I had an hour to solve a problem, I’d spend 55 minutes thinking about the problem and 5 minutes thinking about solutions.” Similarly, William A. Foster noted that, “Quality is never an accident; it is always the result of high intention, sincere effort, intelligent direction and skillful execution; it represents the wise choice of many alternatives.”
Similarly, innovation and the readiness to innovate will stand the Lagos State Public Service in good stead. In Public Sector Innovation: From Ideas to Action, a publication by Ernst & Young, it was noted that “Innovation is no longer just a buzzword. It is now seen as a potential solution to all problems and has become ubiquitous in both the private and public sectors. In the private sector, the need to be innovative has an obvious driver: staying ahead of the competition and delivering products and services that will increase market share and drive shareholder value.”
The publication then further noted that the “case for innovation in the public sector, however, is less well defined but has many similarities. As governments strive to balance priorities — including the effective allocation of resources and meeting public expectations — it is becoming increasingly clear that new approaches are needed. Governments will have to innovate and find ways to make difficult things easy in the areas of service delivery, process improvement, regulation and policy implementation.
Thereafter, the publication addressed the challenges involved in defining what innovation means in particular circumstances. It noted that, “private sector organisations struggle to define what innovation means and to effectively implement an operating model to enable it. This can be caused by many reasons, but some include:
(a) Lack of a defined innovation strategy;
(b) No specific innovation process or framework;
(c) Limited budget or leadership capacity and;
(d) The sheer size of an organization, with larger businesses tending to be bureaucratic and slow moving.”
Now, in addition to all the challenges enumerated above, the publication notes that, “On top of this, the public sector must deal with public scrutiny, and the traditionally risk-averse approach of governments. So how can the public sector effectively innovate to serve citizens better and more efficiently? The first step clearly understands what is driving the need to innovate — whether it’s better allocating resources, keeping up with citizens’ expectations, working with the private sector to ensure a competitive economy, or attracting the next generation of public sector leaders. Second, public sector organisations need to clearly understand what it is they’re trying to innovate — services, processes, regulatory models or policy design and implementation. And last but most important, public sector leaders need to clearly understand what operating model they intend to use to enable innovation given their specific needs, circumstances and talents. In innovation, as it has in some other areas, government can learn from the approaches.”
With those insightful observations, you will agree with me that the Lagos State Public Service will benefit from a healthy dose of ingrained innovativeness and strategic planning.
Dr. Oke is the Honourable Commissioner, Lagos State Ministry of Establishments, Training and Pensions
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