I was recently involved in a project to define and communicate the strategy of a specialist library. The institution was an established and well respected one. However, it had not kept pace with advances in technology within the last two decades. There were serious challenges regarding the acquisition and provision of digital materials and services, such as e-books and online databases.
The new Manager was keen to bring the library back up to speed. He compiled a list of very impressive project proposals, all of which answered to the need for more digital services from the library.
Yet something was missing. There was no thread running through these projects, no unifying vision beyond the vague (but worthy) need to ‘go digital’. All that the entire strategy appeared to consist was this long (albeit impressive) list of projects.
The Manager asked me what more he could do. I looked at the list. Everything seemed to make sense. I could see that he had made a thorough analysis of the situation, and had identified possible solutions to the main issues. Yet something was lacking.
‘What’s your story?’ I asked him. ‘What is the aim of this library?’
He pondered the question for a short while, and then responded:
‘The library provides materials on life sciences to academic researchers and scientists working in the sector’.
That was indeed the case, but his answer addressed what the library currently does, and not what it aims to be. There is a vital difference between doing and being. A successful strategy is born out of ‘doing what you are’. So it is important first to work out what the business is, or aims to be, before turning to what it does. His answer depicted the library to be nothing too special. Just one of perhaps several such organizations providing these materials to the relevant readership. How then would he be able to define its strategy, much less measure its success?
He understood the distinction, and gave it another go:
‘The library aims to be the number-one information portal in the life sciences field for academic researchers and scientists.’
What he had done now was to give some thought to the identity of the library, and then, having formulated clearly what he wished for the library to become, he was then in a position, together with his team, to draw up a strategy to get them there. For example, by focusing on the words ‘number one’, they could begin to benchmark the library against similar institutions with a view to emerging on top. By focusing on the words ‘information portal’, they could analyze what sort of material they needed to source, and in what format. This could entail, for example, the creation of a comprehensive acquisition policy for relevant materials on life sciences. By focusing on ‘academic researchers and scientists’, they could begin to ask if this actually covered the entire range of clients they wished to reach. All of these questions would lead them towards a proper examination of their identity. And then, having settled this point, they could go forward with implementing a successful strategy.
Know who you are before determining what you will do. A clear sense of identity is essential to business development.
*Some details have been changed.