Existential Strategy

James Oglivy, cofounder of GBN, tells us in the winter 2003 issue of Strategy+Business What Strategists Can Learn from Sartre.

He begins by imparting how he helped create the SRI VALS system for segmenting markets by lifestyle types. At the time this stereotypographyl was quite an innovation in forecasting, but then it broke down as consumers lifestyles became more dynamic. He attributes this to an existential awakening in which personal freedom was realized. The philosophy of Existentialism begins with personal choice to effect the future, in constrast to Essentialist theory that the future is predetermined fate.

Unfortunately, he doesn't explore how this trend shapes marketing pratices and instead shifts to some wonderful insights on strategy. Existentialism provides a framework for how market segmentation fails, a clueful insight. But the nature of people and firms making decisions to shape their future only implys dynamism of markets -- because the focus of analysis is on nodes rather than connections and what they transmit. When viewing the environment from the perspective of a node there is an infinite decision tree which choices governed by probabilities. It does not provide a systemic view of how localized decisions relate to result in emergent patterns or how these patterns shift.

But what Existentialism does give us is a perspective of time in context and the possibility of shaping it. There are moments of relative stability and of punctuated equilibrium. Booms and busts. Recongizing that punctuations in time create moments of urgency means we should prepare for them, his argument for undertaking scenario planning when you have time for it.

Because we have the opportunity to create our own lives and our own conscious sense of responsibility, he suggests the role of managers should not be to dictate order, but instead define morality and its consequences for the organization. This is similar to the argument of In Search of Excellence: Lessons from Americas Best-Run Companies that the job of the manager is meaning making. This challenge to make meaning in an otherwise meaningless environment is itself made to order for the existential strategist..

Towards this end, he offers some Existential management practices:

Five Principles of Existential Strategy

Finitude. You cant be all things to all people. If youre not saying no to some possibilities, then youre not acting strategically. Being-Toward-Death. No one is too big to fail, to die, to go bankrupt. Gliding on momentum can lead to a crash. Care. Define your interests more precisely than ROI or return to shareholders. If you dont know where you stand, youll fall for anything. Thrownness. You have a past; you have experiences and core competencies. Know them, use them, and dont forget them. Authenticity. Dont be bound by your past. Feel free to reinvent yourself and your company for an uncertain future.

Do read the article to interpret this checklist. Interesting stuff.