The Future of Strategy Teams in an Uber World

Imtiaz Patel

Strategist, P&L Owner, Expert in Growth Strategy, New Concept Development and Re-inventing 

It used to be a binary choice, you either had a strategy team on staff or you didn’t. And if you didn’t and had the need to address a strategic issue, you hired traditional management consultants. And even if you did, you sometimes hired management consultants for specific expertise. But this is so old world and misses out on the potential offered by an on-demand world.

The on-demand economy has begun to fundamentally change how we work, both as corporations and as individuals. With Uberization now seeping into the areas of executive talent and strategy resources where you can bring in classically schooled consultants, formerly with top tier firms like McKinsey, BCG, etc. at a fraction of the cost of hiring a full time resource or a consulting firm. We estimate that bringing in a resource like this can cost 70%-80% less than bringing in a consulting firm. With this kind of quality and savings, companies should be leveraging these resources and rethinking how their strategy teams operate.

There is no longer a need to have a fully staffed strategy team. With a strategy team on staff you are you are destined to have your team explore issues that they may not be experts in. You just can’t staff an internal team to be expert in every conceivable issue that you may face. And even if you build a large team that can address the majority of issues, demand for their services will ebb and flow.

The strategy team needs to be structured and resourced to deal with consistent requirements, such as, market scanning, competitor tracking, supporting board meetings, etc. And as bigger, newer issues arise that require real expertise, resources should be brought in to support the strategy team which will accelerate the ability to get to an answer, bringing in real expert experience. In this on-demand context, you should be able to find exactly the right resource that has very specific experience you need to ensure success. In some ways, we are reverting to a world of increased specialization allowing us to focus on and pay for only that which is relevant and nothing more.

This means that the role of the Chief Strategy Officer will change to identifying strategic priorities that require real expertise and managing the internal vs. external mix of resources. There is safety in bringing in a consulting firm, as the old adage goes “No one got fired for hiring McKinsey”, but results in missing out on the potential offered. Now there is a need to find, identify and qualify independent consultants who can do the work. And this has to be done by the CSO, not outsourced to HR. With the potential savings and availability of true expertise on-demand, this is an approach worth considering and as a result, creating a strategy team of with true expertise and limitless capabilities.