Goal-Based Strategy Office: A breakthrough approach for achieving high-impact organisational goals for sustained growth

By Sandeep Das

When we (BOD Consulting) first started thinking about Goal-Based Strategy Office (GBSO), the intent was not to add to the management and consulting jargon. GBSO was developed through our direct experiences, wherein clients find disciplined goal-identification and setting complex and challenging.

If not a consulting jargon, then what exactly is the GBSO? We define it as a “hyper focused approach towards achieving what matters most, right now”. At the core of the GBSO, are High Impact Goals (HIGs), which organisations need to achieve for long-term growth and success. HIGs strengthen an organisation’s foundations and are critical milestones on the evolutionary growth roadmap. HIGs are not KPIs, which most of the time organisations have too many. An example of a HIG would be logistics transformation to drive efficiencies in the global supply chain, expand reach and drive down costs. On the other hand, a KPI can be “15% reduction in global supply chain costs in the first year”. A KPI will be an indicator of whether a HIG will be achieved or not.

We do recognise the fact that HIGs are not the only goals an organisation will have, but the GBSO is designed towards achievement of HIGs, because they simply have “high impact”. The three strategic pillars of a successful GBSO are:

Identifying and prioritising HIGs

Instilling strategic thinking and planning to achieve HIGs

Institutionalise the required systems and processes

The GBSO acts as a strategic unit for different organisations with different levels of alignment towards HIG-based thinking.

Organisation Type 1 – Leaders are not goal oriented in their approach to growth → GBSO helps leaders in defining HIGs and prioritising them

Organisation Type 2 – Only CXOs / Directors are goal oriented, while functional leaders are not → GBSO helps leaders in defining a HIG-based strategy, and works closely with functional leaders on strategic initiatives needed to achieve HIGs

Organisation Type 3 – Multiple leaders are goal oriented, but execution teams are not aligned → GBSO helps leaders build the right systems and processes, aligning and coaching teams, ensuring seamless execution, which is necessary for achieving the HIGs

BOD Consulting’s Goal-Based Strategy Office (GBSO) is one of the options available to high-impact, results-focused leaders to drive growth in their organisations. GBSO sits between managing and executing strategy without a dedicated team, and creating an in-house strategy team.

The advantage of a GBSO over other options is the clarity and focus towards achieving the HIGs. When we work with clients using the GBSO, we keep leaders and ourselves accountable for the end result, and make sure that our focus translates onto the leadership function and reduces their distractions.

The inherent, built-in advantages of a GBSO include:

Acting and operating like an independent think-tank, even though deeply embedded

Offers hyper-focused lean teams, who are highly efficient and cost effective

Built specifically to achieve the HIGs

In our work designing and implementing GBSOs with clients across different industries and sectors, we have combined multiple functional areas depending on the focus of the HIGs. For example, a GBSO in one client might be completely focused on operations because the HIG is an operating model transformation, while in another client it can combine digital and marketing because the HIG is a digital-driven marketing transformation. On an average, a GBSO can run from anything between 18-24 months depending on the HIGs, but not necessarily always longer. This is because of the simple principle we follow – impact needs to be achieved over a short to medium-term.

In a real-life example of our GBSO work, we worked with a food conglomerate focusing on two HIGs:

Successfully build out the production facilities for B2B sales (HoReCa + Retail + Exports + Contract Manufacturing)

Successfully create and launch a B2C / D2C brand with a pre-Series A round capital raise from high quality institutional investors

Organisations are complex organisms, which means that BOD Consulting is constantly learning and enriching the GBSO offer through continuous client experience. In addition to the ability of bringing in a multi-disciplinary team in-house quickly and efficiently, we also have the ability to complement the GBSO through select value-added services. These have included design and content creation, digital product design, strategic deal advisory, and management training and coaching.

(The author is Senior Partner, Mr. Sandeep Das, BOD Consulting, and the views expressed in this article are his own)