Long term strategy for large TV Station

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  • #3520
    Sebastian
    Participant

    Hi guys,

    I am doing a 2 day workshop with around 30 CEO.. Board of Directors and management of a large local tv network.
    They want to do a long term strategy on 3 topics
    1. What channels or content to develop for the future
    2. What platforms to invest in..ie broadcast,
    3. What infrastructure to develop in
    They already know the overall big scenario of what shape and business model they want to be but they need to populate those 3 areas above..

    It is meant to be a macro level session and no operational detail output solutions is expected though action plan items to pursue further are expected

    I was thinking if using either
    Business Model Canvas,
    Rule Breaking,
    Simple SWOT or TOWS landscape,
    Or simply build future vision of the 3 components, identify steps or content to fulfil that vision.. gaps and obstacles to getting there and the solutions required.

    Another concern is how to split up the groups as you want everyone to know everything but you dont want overcrowding and chaos.
    Should I do each topic in sequence with everyone in 6 or 3 table groups.
    or
    Split the 3 topics among 3 or 6 sub tables and then World Cafe?

    Any input would be great and thanks in advance
    BTW as part of the deal they have agreed to do a Lego Serious Play coverage on their news channel.. cool I think..

    Cheers
    Sebastian

    #3521
    Eli De Friend
    Moderator

    Dear Sebastian,

    I hope you are doing well. Congratulations on getting this mandate. Some readers might not be aware that your “local TV network” may be broadcasting to up to 25 million people!

    My first advice is not on method, but staffing. For 30 people, if you have not already considered it, I would strongly recommend working with a trained co-facilitator and you might want to have a third person providing logistical and documentation services.

    While an LSP purist would argue that everything of importance for the group will be in their heads and “documented in LEGO models”, the reality is that, even if the client keeps the models, they can get broken. And people can lose their memory or leave the company. Different facilitators use various techniques, from flipcharts, to drawings, to video to capture the stories of the models.

    Now, to come to process, you have two days and you are doing strategy. Why not simply run a standard Real-time strategy and make your life simple.

    The whole point about long term strategy is that it is way out in the future and while it is still possible to predict the future to some extent, the rate of change of the world around us is continually accelerating and our ability to predict is reduced.

    The Business Model Canvas is trendy, but is not necessarily the best tool for your purpose and it has at least 3 key areas that are missing, which are the “competition”, the “environment” and the connections between everything. Basically, the BMC is too restricted for a serious strategy session. So if you stick to what is on the piece of paper, you will miss some of the richness of LSP. Even if the BMC doesn’t mention it, you need the environment, you need the competition and you need the connections. I would also suggest that some of the BMC cells are superfluous for your mandate. It is not really important to be discussing cost structure with 30 CEOs, particularly when the future might bring technological changes that mean you replace actors and news presenters with computer programmers.

    The three components could be separate two-day workshops, but if you only have time you are given, I would suggest starting at the highest level.

    If I were you, I would ask each group to build their future TV station in the middle of the table, making sure that it contains elements of the Value Proposition, channel, platforms and infrastructure. They can then build customer segments, channels, key resources and key partners, as well as competitors etc., then technological factors, mega-trends and other environmental factors. Do some landscaping and then connections. The revenue streams will only appear once you have built all the connections.

    Now I would have each team describe their models to everyone else. This would be an appropriate time to partially mix up the groups, making sure to have a couple of people from each group staying with their model à la World Café.

    They can now revise their central model and include additional agents (actors/factors) on the landscape.

    Then you would go into scenarios, potentially revise the landscape again, then head towards SGPs. You will probably need to do some more presenting out, before or after the development of SGPs and you will probably need voting on SGPs.

    Well, that’s how I would do it (except that I would not specifically use BMC terminology, because they probably have their own vocabulary that they should be using).

    All the best,

    Eli

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