Fly Swatting and Competitive Strategy

Recent findings from a Cal Tech research study, published in the journal Current Biology, and reported today by the BBC, reveals interesting parallels between the neurological make-up of houseflies and effective competitive strategy.

According to the BBC report, researchers think that the fly's ability to avoid being hit by a flyswatter is due to its fast acting brain and an ability to plan ahead. High speed, high resolution video recordings showed that the insects quickly work out where a threat is coming from and prepare an escape route.

"Most people will have experienced the frustrating experience of carefully attempting to swat a fly, only to swing and miss while the intrepid insect buzzes off to safety. The research suggests that the best way of swatting a fly is to creep up slowly and aim ahead of its location," the BBC reports.

The article goes on to note that over the years there have been different theories put forward to explain the fly's uncanny ability to outwit human attempts to swat them, but the research says it is about quick-fire intelligence and good planning. Specifically, the researchers discovered that, long before the fly leaps, it calculates the location of the threat and comes up with an escape plan.

Any strategic planner frustrated at his or her company's inability to best a nimble competitor can empathize with unsuccessful human efforts to swat flies. What sets leading companies apart? A fast-acting, nimble nature, sound planning, and an uncanny ability to spot threats before they impact their interests. As with the fly, quick-fire intelligence and good planning are required if any company is to develop keen instincts and an uncanny ability to avoid threats and leap to a new, safe position.

Leaping Over the Intelligence – Decision Gap

We all know, intuitively, that competitive
intelligence isn’t really intelligence unless it is actionable.
If a piece of intelligence doesn’t compel a decision-
maker to take action, we are told, it is just another piece
of information. But what constitutes action? And,
what is the process by which competitive intelligence
prompts a decision or strategy that is implemented and
subsequently managed? Frequently, even companies
that possess world-class competitive intelligence
functions struggle with turning credible, insightful,
actionable intelligence into a clear strategy, decision, or
course of action.

Why is good intelligence often not incorporated into
strategic plans or operational decisions? The problem, I
believe, rests with reluctance among management to
clearly define the role it expects intelligence to play in
company decision-making, to define key decision
components that are influenced by intelligence, and to
track progress against them.

Too often, strategic planning is an exercise in
reaffirming what is known or comfortable, or what has
worked in the past. Similarly, decision implementation
is often an exercise in executing what has worked
before. Companies are hard-pressed to take new, bold,
and decisive action even when all the intelligence
“signals” point to the wisdom of pursuing a new course
of action.

The identification of an issue champion can help. This is an
individual in a decision-making or leadership role whose corporate
function is most impacted by the intelligence. For the
issue champion to successfully act on new intelligence,
the CI manager must brief him or her on the content of
the intelligence, and discuss the implications for the
company and for his or her function directly.

What other solutions can help to mitigate the gap between intelligence and action?

Why Now Is the Time To Take a Closer Look at Scenario Planning

September is a common strategic planning time for many companies. With fall just around the corner, this is a good time to begin thinking about maximizing your strategic planning process. If your planning process is not fostering collaboration among corporate and business-unit managers, nor making best use of best practices -- two conditions that improve planning process outputs, according to a recent McKinsey & Company survey -- scenario planning may offer a solution.

Scenario planning helps organizations envision a future very different from the present and develop concrete strategies that ensure success in a number of different possible futures. Companies also develop specific, measurable indicators that provide an early warning of what the future may bring, and the opportunity to start preparing today. In doing so, scenario planning encourages that managers from different parts of the company collaborate to offer their unique insights about the external environment. It also facilitates the consideration of prevailing environmental trends, likely competitor behavior, and external threats -- planning best practices executives say they wish they could follow more judiciously.

Let us know if your firm incorporates scenario planning into the annual planning process.