Advancement strategy refers to the coordinated, organization-wide approach that guides how a company progresses towards increased maturity in a capability. It provides direction on where the organization wants to go, determining priorities and sequencing of initiatives to close capability gaps.
The Core Tenets of an Advancement Strategy
- Aligned to business strategy and objectives
- Focused on desired capabilities and outcomes
- Prioritized roadmap of initiatives and investments
- Blends both incremental and breakthrough advances
- Considers organization’s culture and change readiness
Why Advancement Strategy is Important to Business Consultants
An effective advancement strategy is crucial for consultants to develop when assisting clients in improving their organizational capabilities.
It ensures a structured, thoughtful approach rather than ad-hoc disjointed initiatives. A strong advancement strategy aligns investments to business goals, sequences priorities, and gains leadership buy-in. This increases the likelihood of successful execution and impact.
Consultants should partner with clients to define meaningful targets for advancement that consider feasibility and stretch. This provides the compass heading for growth. Consultants then guide clients to shape a holistic roadmap that pragmatically sequences the building blocks.
This roadmap becomes the backbone for roll-out, driving cross-functional coordination. With a sound advancement strategy, consultants can better advise clients on resourcing trade-offs and change management needs. This improves the probability of realization and ROI.
Overall, a well-constructed advancement strategy allows consultants to positively influence organizational maturity in a strategic, results-driven manner.
Example of Advancement Strategy in Use
- A retail company defined an advancement strategy to improve its data analytics capabilities. The roadmap focused first on building foundational data lakes and pipelines before later efforts to apply advanced AI. This sequencing allowed basic reporting to improve quickly while readying for more sophisticated analytics.
- A software firm plotted an advancement strategy to move from ad-hoc product development to Agile. It wisely invested first in practice development before tackling tools. This built organizational readiness before technology changes.
- A bank mapped out a multi-year advancement strategy to achieve excellence in digital channels. Early priorities centred on user-experience upgrades before pivoting focus to back-end integration. This phasing met immediate customer needs while building towards a seamless omnichannel experience.
Advancement Strategy Synonyms
- Maturity Roadmap: A plan that sequences maturity-building initiatives and investments over time.
- Capability Advancement Plan: An approach for systematically progressing an organization’s proficiency in a particular capability area.
- Strategic Progression Blueprint: An overarching scheme that lays out how an entity intends to purposefully evolve from one state to a more advanced targeted state.
Advancement Strategy Antonyms
- Uncoordinated Efforts: Disjointed, ad-hoc initiatives that lack alignment to a central strategy.
- Immature Initiatives: Capability-building projects and investments that are executed without sufficient planning and phasing.
- Random Acts: Haphazard changes or improvements that are made without an intentional strategy guiding them.
Other Closely-Related Terms
- Maturity Model: A framework with stages that describe how capabilities evolve from basic to advanced levels.
- Capability Mapping: An exercise to define and assess an organization’s current and desired future capabilities.
- Transformation Roadmap: A plan that lays out the sequence of initiatives needed to achieve major strategic change.
