Strategy, Part III: Small Bets, Pilots, & Strategic Practice

#approach #changingtimes #leadership

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In Parts I and II, we explored why traditional strategic planning often fails: long lists of objectives, abstract values-based pillars, and a tendency to overemphasize prestige metrics or unit-level plans. We also discussed the power of trade-offs and strategic bets as a way to surface priorities, make choices transparent, and position the organization to navigate uncertainty.

Part III moves from concept to practice: how do research leaders actually get good at placing bets, running pilots, and scaling what works?

Trade-Offs and Bets: Making Strategy Transparent and Collective

When strategy is framed as a series of trade-offs and bets, it becomes easier for everyone in the organization to see why decisions are made, not just what the decisions are.

Trade-offs reveal priorities: Instead of trying to do everything, leaders clarify which programs, investments, or initiatives are emphasized and which are deprioritized. This helps faculty and staff understand why resources flow where they do and reduces the sense of arbitrary or opaque decision-making.
Bets signal intention: Strategic bets show where the institution is placing its energy and attention for future advantage, even under uncertainty. Everyone can see the assumptions, the horizon, and the risks involved.
Democratizing understanding: When trade-offs and bets are shared openly, they allow departments and stakeholders to provide input, challenge assumptions, and adjust execution in real time. This creates a shared mental model of the institution’s direction rather than a top-down mandate. It forces choice instead of meandering, abstract debate.
Connecting to action: This approach directly links strategy to execution: people know why they are doing what they are doing, which increases alignment, reduces friction, and enables coordinated, adaptive moves.

In short, making trade-offs and bets explicit transforms strategy from a static plan into a living conversation, exactly the type of practice higher education needs to thrive in uncertain, fast-moving contexts.

1. Small Bets Matter More Than Big Moves Alone

Higher education is complex, and sweeping changes are risky. Instead of trying to solve everything at once, leaders can make smaller, deliberate bets that test ideas in real-world conditions.

Small bets reduce risk while generating actionable evidence.
They give staff confidence in the direction and a chance to adapt processes before scaling.
They create a learning culture: the organization becomes more resilient, responsive, and agile based on what they learned.

2. Pilots as Strategic Experiments

A pilot is more than a test - it’s a strategic probe that informs broader decision-making. To run pilots effectively:

Define clear hypotheses and outcomes: Know what you are testing and what success looks like.
Include cross-functional perspectives: Engage the right units early to uncover hidden constraints and opportunities.
Measure the right signals: Track operational, behavioral, and impact metrics, not just prestige indicators or outputs.
Iterate and adapt: Document lessons learned, refine the approach, and feed them into larger strategic decisions.

By treating pilots as experiments, leaders learn faster than the environment changes, giving them an edge over institutions that rely solely on static plans.

3. Connecting Bets to System-Level Advantage

Small bets only create advantage when they are aligned with broader organizational direction:

Each pilot should clarify trade-offs and resource allocation, signaling what the institution values most.
Successes become models for scaling, and failures become lessons that prevent costly missteps.
Over time, a portfolio of informed bets creates flexibility, clarity, and confidence in the organization’s trajectory.

This approach transforms strategy from a document into a living practice: it’s no longer about producing a polished plan, but about continuously shaping the system to respond to opportunity, reduce friction, and increase execution capacity.

4. Building a Culture of Strategic Practice

Practicing strategy through trade-offs, bets, and pilots impacts culture in tangible ways:

Transparency: Faculty and staff understand why choices are made and what trade-offs exist.
Engagement: People see how their work contributes to meaningful outcomes.
Adaptability: The organization can respond to shocks, new opportunities, and shifting priorities without losing focus.

In complex research environments, strategy is no longer a plan, it’s a conversation, a set of deliberate choices, and a continuous practice. By getting comfortable with small bets, pilots, and transparent trade-offs, research leaders position their institutions not just to survive change, but to actively influence the future.

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