Strategic planning is always a challenge, but particularly in the post-pandemic world. Once, it was a matter of plotting incremental improvements on current offerings. Now, organisations must deal with many unknowns and find solutions in the fastest most efficient manner possible.

Delivering value and reducing risk may not come from whatever in-house resources can come up with either. Businesses may need to reach beyond their offices to wherever the best innovations arise. Luckily, this is possible if the Chief Strategy Officer utilizes a broader range of innovation resources.

How Strategic Planning Has Shifted

CSOs are changing how they invest. Massive investments in AI, especially for automation, optimization, and customer service are the immediate focus for many. More emphasis on customer experience, sustainability, cost, brand, and distribution channels are also prioritized for the future.

Technology other than AI is also a high priority. CSOs expressed a need for talent and more R&D. Additionally, most agreed their strategy is now more externally focused and more execution-oriented.

Innovation Delivers Value

The pandemic taught us that significant unknowns can crop up at any time. It also proved that those who come up with solutions first often thrive.

As an example, retailers invested in e-commerce platforms. Eat-in restaurants offered curbside pickup and started delivery. Video conferencing as well as laptop and cellphone sales exploded in response to the need for remote work and education.

In every case, experimentation, digital innovation, and early adoption proved to be the best way to deliver value to customers and secure market share. Companies face more challenges than ever, yet innovation remains the fastest and most efficient way to combat them. With innovation foresight, a good Chief Strategy Officer can plot defenses against future market disruptions, quickly and effectively.

Innovation Crucial to Competitiveness

Innovation is a key driver of competitiveness, particularly in rapidly evolving industries. It helps organisations develop unique products and services that set them apart from competitors. This drives business growth and can make organisations more resilient.

Innovation Can Improve Any Aspect of Business

Innovation goes beyond creating new products and services. It can include reshaping processes, creating a new business model, and collaboration in areas often left unconsidered.

Investing in innovation must provide new value to stakeholders such as customers, suppliers, managers, investors, workers, government agencies, and others. Every organization has problems they want to solve. Fortunately, CSOs can find them when they collaborate.

Innovation Can Provide Agility

Strategic planning is an ongoing process. As a result, a good innovation strategy involves testing new ideas as quickly and wisely as possible. Luckily, the Chief Strategy Officer can stay on top of trends, prioritize potential ideas, and test them for viability very quickly through collaborative efforts.

Leveraging an Open Ecosystem for Strategic Planning Success

Chief Strategy Officers need an array of methods to access the talent and tools they need. Luckily, EarlyBirds provides multiple methods to help them do this and they all provide the following benefits:

• Increased productivity
• Improved operational efficiency
• Enhanced competitiveness
• Connections to the best Subject Matter Experts and innovators available
• Simplified process

EarlyBirds Skill Identification Program

Our skill identification program offers potential solutions to organisation to find and retain the best in the current talent pool.

The program is overseen by veterans in the industry with a high level of credibility and expertise that benefits all parties. It also provides actionable data-driven recommendations fuelled by cutting-edge technologies, such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, and predictive analytics.

EarlyBirds Open Innovation Ecosystem

Our award-winning Open Innovation Ecosystem allows both innovation and strategic thinking in all areas of a business, whatever the technical or business challenge or potential opportunity your organisation wants to explore.

With a data pool of over 5.0 million global innovations across many industries, it is possible that solutions already exist that address your organisation’s challenges. Alternatively, your organisation can list your challenges and request solutions from innovators.

EarlyBirds Ecosystem Maps

EarlyBirds’ Ecosystem Maps offer strategic value for decision-making. They empower CSOs, because they provide a full picture of the possible technological advancements in specific domains. This allows them to make informed, forward-thinking decisions.

Each Ecosystem Map contains startups, scaleups, and mature companies involved in specific themes and sub-themes so organisations can plot a path towards innovation. The map also tracks numerous daily and historical news and media articles from across the world.

EarlyBirds Explorer Program

The Explorer Program is tailored towards those who need innovation as a service to supplement existing innovation programs, or to conduct innovation projects when required. It is designed to speed up the process of technological innovation for the organisation as a service.

The Explorer Program includes several features including quarterly and monthly innovation days; regular webinars to help stimulate innovation in the organisation; a focus on types of innovations; a platform enterprise license; and a nominated SME for the business.

EarlyBirds Challenger Program

The Challenger Program focuses on a single organisational or technical challenge. It looks for the most relevant innovators that meet your organisational, technical, and risk requirements.

The program is run by an EarlyBirds’ Subject Matter Expert who identifies your key issues. The SME then searches the data pool to identify and curate options for further evaluation. The most suitable option is chosen and the SME drafts a roadmap of next steps, POC, trial, or implementation.

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The best Chief Strategy Officers always look for effective ways to spur positive innovation. If you are looking to find solutions to your organisation’s problems, please sign up as an Early Adopter. Alternatively, please request a consultation for a more personalized approach.

Our experience extends to the Food Industry, Retail, Healthcare, Operations & Maintenance, Manufacturing, Finance & Insurance, Energy, Education, Cybersecurity, Sovereign Nations, the Public Sector, and many other areas. We can help you find the resources you need to enable your strategic planning efforts.

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