Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Martin Toner is a partner in Bain & Companys New York office. Nikhil Ojha
is a Bain partner in New Delhi. Piet de Paepe is a Bain partner in Brussels.
Miguel Simoes de Melo is a Bain partner in the firms Sydney office. All are
members of Bains Global Strategy practice.
focus on the vital few uncertainties that matter, understand the possible scenarios that could develop and
identify the critical trigger points that signal a swing to
one scenario or anotherwe call these signposts. This
leads to a clear and actionable portfolio of strategic actions
that balance commitment with flexibility. And the process shifts from an exercise defined by conditions at a
discrete point in time to a cycle of execute, monitor and
adapt, redirecting the company toward the best opportunities over time.
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Figure 1: Business leaders today face tremendous uncertainty along four primary dimensions
tes
nts
Strategies that are robust in uncertainty are no less devoted to a bold, long-term ambition. But they do strive to
balance commitment to this vision with an explicit set
of investments that prepare the company to seize the
future as it unfolds, rather than scramble reactively and
allow rivals or the external environment to define the
rules of competition. The best strategies blend three
critical elements:
The objective is to provide the kind of enhanced intelligence that can then trigger more informed decisions
within the context of Aurizons ambition for total shareholder return. That makes it easier to allocate resources
against the highest-probability outcomes. Action flows
from rapid and closed feedback loops, resulting in faster,
more informed adaptation than the competition. Instead
of merely identifying a full potential vision and the means
to execute it, strategy is always in motion as the company
executes, monitors conditions and adapts to the best
opportunities as they develop.