Strategy as a practice fits within a larger framework for achieving organizational goals and realizing an organization’s vision and mission. Strategic organizations both apply this framework and approach strategy with human-centered design.
Strategy exists within the following framework:
VISION & MISSION – The vision of the organization describes the intention of the organization. The mission is what the organization actually does, stated in lofty terms. These are organizational, and are typically permanent.
GOALS – The organizational goals are the desired results. It’s best to limit this to one or two main goals. Goals are typically set by leadership, and are fairly concrete, especially since changes to goals has a cascading effect.
OBJECTIVES – The objectives are measurable ways that the the organization will know that they are achieving their goals. Some measurements may be qualitative (based on feeling or description), others may be quantitative (measurable by numbers.) It’s best to limit this to two or three at the most, at the same time. Objectives may change somewhat from time to time as metrics are reviewed.
STRATEGIES – Strategies are the ideas for how the objectives will be met. These aren’t tasks, but they’re ideas for how to do something. Strategies are typically worth sticking with for a time, even if tactics aren’t working. This is because different tactics can be applied to the same strategy.
TACTICS – Tactics are the actual activities that you do to achieve your strategies. They can be as numerous as the ideas that you can come up with.
You can see from the figure above that two goals with two objectives each can result in many strategies and countless tactics for how to achieve those goals. This is why it’s best to limit your goals and objectives.
Human-centered design dictates that vision, mission, and goals, are all centered on the people that the organization serves. All of the objectives, strategies, and tactics should be in alignment with the organization’s human-centered vision, mission, and goals.
Design Sprints
This approach is strategic in and of itself. There are frameworks and exercises for defining effective vision, mission, goals, objectives, strategies, and tactics. Design sprints designed to focus on the different areas above are a great way to employ human-centered design in a collaborative environment.
Design sprints can be used to uncover opportunities, to establish an organization’s brand, and to solve problems. Design sprints should always seek to explicitly define and solve the problem – and not be used to simply vet somebody’s existing solution or idea. Design Sprints are well-structured, and are typically made up of exercises. Sometimes it helps to bring in somebody with a design thinking background to help facilitate the discovery of opportunities for innovation and change.