Strategy with LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® Method: 2 case studies
Were the SGP effective after one year?
You’ve seen a lot of sharing on social media of successful #LEGOSERIOUSPLAY workshops. We all know that what is shared on social media is just success. And we all know that success is not as common as shown on social media.
Are all these strategic workshops effective? Yes, we can say that most strategic workshops provided by facilitators under the umbrella of the @Association–of-Master-Trainers were effective. We know it because the facilitators told us that the clients continue to buy from them because we know from the clients themselves.
Today I want to tell the story of 2 of my clients who allowed me to say they were very happy with the outcome of their workshop and give me a little more info to show that they applied the strategies developed with the #LEGOSERIOUSPLAY strategic workshop and those strategies help them to be successful.
eViso Spa
eVISO is a digital company that uses a proprietary Artificial Intelligence platform to create value for recurring users of commodities from electricity to apples. Since 30 December 2020, eVISO has been listed on the Euronext Growth Milan segment of Borsa Italiana S.p.A.
Thanks to this platform eVISO specializes in the supply of electricity and gas for all types of users, with particular expertise in serving companies. eVISO helps companies reduce operating costs by optimizing energy consumption thanks to monitoring sensor technology and a technical consultancy program that includes monthly reports, alerts in the event of abnormal consumption, and on-site visits by specialized engineers to find targeted efficiency solutions together. eVISO is also active in the Reseller market with a service ranging from electricity supply to the execution and management of light practices, providing through its platform the technological and financial requirements to best serve more and more end customers throughout Italy.
In February 2022 I delivered a Real Time Strategy for Enterprise for the C-Suite team of eViso. The reason was the fact that they were listed on the Milan stock exchange recently so they need to be more consistent and aligned in making decisions. Their position in the energy market and the energy market itself made their future unpredictable, so a Real Time Strategy was the best option.
Real-Time Strategy is a development made by Robert Rasmussen and Per Kristiansen over Henry Mintzberg, emergent strategy. “Emergent strategy is the view that strategy emerges over time as intentions collide with, and accommodate, a changing reality. According to Henry Mintzberg, emergent strategy is a set of actions, or behavior, consistent over time, “a realized pattern [that] was not expressly intended” in the original planning of strategy. The term “emergent strategy” implies that an organization is learning what works in practice.” Real-time Strategy outcome is a set of 5-7 Simple Guiding Principles (SGP) that emerge playing with future emergencies. SGP is the decision-making tool that can help act with intention when the unexpected happens. SGP “allows the person to make the right decision on the spot. They provide a freedom of choice that is based on how that business has chosen to compete in its marketplace. They allow customer value to be maintained as relevant to the circumstances that are emerging. They address the expected and the unexpected.”
SGP:
· The Simple Guiding Principles are not rules or instructions. They are open-ended and should always be interpreted.
· They guide rather than lead, helping to decide what to focus on and how to act.
· They are unique and not directly transferable to any other group.
· The Simple Guiding Principles must be taken as a whole and each one must be clear. However, their meaning transcends the way they are formulated.
· The Simple Guiding Principles help to make decisions in real-time.
In February 2022 at the end of the workshop eViso leadership team had their set of SGPs
Reading them did not tell us too much, but this is normal (we said above They are unique and not directly transferable to any other group and their meaning transcends the way they are formulated). But to them, they made the difference.
A few weeks later Russian Army invaded Ukraine and the price of energy reached paramount prices. All “intended strategies disappeared. Those with SGPs survived. In September 2022 The CFO of eViso called me to tell me “You saved us! The SGP we hung in our office was key in managing the company in the rough waters we navigated in the last months. When we hung them it was mostly a way to show up the outcome of a workshop. After a few days, it was our master plan!”
AIM Service Italia
AIM Service Italia is the brainchild of a group of professionals working within the segment “Service” maintenance specialist of all industrial plants, in chemical, petrochemical, refining, and production of electricity, to name just a few examples. The many experiences and knowledge gained inside production, coupled with the profound change in the market, prompted us to develop a highly specialized Multiservice project. The objective is to combine professionalism important in matters transverse, combining methodologies of work, technical skills, and operational flexibility. The use of portable equipment dedicated last generation, careful planning of activities, and synergy with a wide network of leading suppliers, allow our structure to operate in any work environment in full compliance with the most stringent regulations regarding security and reliability.
At the end of September 2022, we delivered another Real Time Strategy for the Leadership team of AIM Service Italia together with the CEO and company account managers of Abacus Alpha the equity fund that possesses the majority of AIM Service Italia shares. AIM was in a fast-growing situation in a highly specialized market. Defining where to go and how to structure the company (which employees, investing into new partners, continue to use portable equipment with the consequent investment needed were among the challenges they need to face in the future. Again AIM and its major shareholders were in a very unpredictable context, where Real real-time strategy was the right answer.
Simple guiding principles represent a real-time strategy. These were those extracted:
After one year the AIM Serice Italia became part of the AIM group. On their website, this is the definition: “The AIM Group stands for a high-class claim, competence, long-standing experience, and appointment loyalty in the areas of Power station service, industrial service, and mechanical engineering. This is the condition to be able to be successful permanently as an enterprise. The highest customer satisfaction by meeting demand services is our aim. Therefore, we position ourselves to the varying needs and wishes of our customers any time a new. With a steadily growing service palette and range of products, we are directed at the needs of the market and are available in the sections of service, mechanical engineering, and engineering to our customers with long-standing experience. The group AIM adapts itself to the dynamic process of national and international environmental standards. Through responsible contact with our valuable resources, we support actively environmental protection. Our huge flexibility, customer nearness, and efficiency are guarantors for the fact that the group AIM has developed into a future-oriented and growth-oriented enterprise.”
In the AIM Group now there are also:
· Amberger Industriemontagen GmbH & Co. KG offers anything but conventional service offers. A competent service company that has made a name for itself in recent years with a focus on valve service.
· AIM Armaturenservice GmbH is successful as a customer-oriented service provider, especially in the field of power plant service. The company is active both in Germany and internationally, as well as in the service center in Neumarkt, primarily in the areas of valves and pumps.
So the SGP allows Abacus Alpha and AIM Service Italy to structure their presence, penetrating and communicating the market for successful growth. The workshop produced also a better collaboration between them moving forward faster and easier than before.
Conclusion
Success depends on a series of factors, but today people are the critical ones. Providing them with a shared purpose and aspiration with commitment and autonomy where they can make decisions based on their mastery not only reinforces their motivation but also helps in pursuing strategies in an unpredictable world. Real-Time Strategy for Enterprise with LEGO SERIOUS PLAY provides such a tool.