Developing Capacity for Innovation in Complex Systems

11 Strategy

Introduction

According to Harvard Business Essentials (2003), there are two schools of thought when it comes to strategy in relation to value creation. The first suggests that the road to value creation lies in driving out the old-fashioned practice of relying on gut instincts and replacing it with strategy based on rigorous, quantitative analysis. That is, the basis of thought is analytical thinking, aimed at providing certainty. The other school favours creativity and innovation, and is more rooted in the idea of intuitive thinking. In reality, though, the strategy process tends to favour a “both-and” approach, in which one does not rule out the other, but rather is supportive of the other. Although many have suggested the importance ...