Does your organization have strategic tension?

Are you driven closer to your desired future?

THINK ON IT: Does your organization have strategic tension? 

We think tension is typically something to be avoided or resolved. But given a little more reflection, you might realize that your leadership experience says otherwise.

The difference between what you want to create in your business and its present state is tension. That tension is resolved by accomplishing the objective.

Good strategy requires tension. Without tension, there is no motivator to change. You can’t reach a goal without some kind of tension pushing you toward that goal. That’s the idea behind setting BHAGs (big, hairy, audacious goals); they motivate action.

Strategic tension drives the organization to rethink, reimagine, and reinvent processes to push current realities closer to the desired state. Effective leaders know how to recognize and create the driving tensions in their organizations. 

So think on this: where is the tension presently pushing your organization? Is it to preserve the status quo and resist change, or to embrace the dissonance between what exists today and what you aspire to become tomorrow? Is it driving you towards your desired future or away from it?

I bet once you can name your organization’s tension, you’ll instantly know if it’s pushing you toward your organization’s goals — or farther away from them. 

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