How often do we look five or ten years out? Only by doing this can we clearly articulate our strategic intent. Having done this we can work back to the present, and decide how we are going to start to build our future with the strategic intent in mind.

A strategic intent is a decision to do something to achieve a purpose. It is a guiding principle that communicates to the business in simple terms where it is going. A strategic intent should be stable over a reasonable period of time and is more useful than a strategy as it is a direction rather than a detailed plan. The idea comes from the military. Within the concept of mission command there is a lot written about communicating the commander’s intent to the troops under his or her control. The idea behind strategic intent is that no plan survives the first contact with the enemy, so junior commanders have to act without detailed instructions whilst always working towards the intent and using this as their guide.

Business is less adversarial than war, but it is competitive. Companies compete for markets and customers; some survive, others do not. Having a clear strategic intent can focus effort right across the organisation without having detailed plans that quickly date, becoming obsolete.

Examples of strategic intent include Komatsu’s strategic intent to surround caterpillar and become the world leader in construction machinery. Starting with this ultimate goal in mind, this little known Japanese company embarked on a 20 year journey through developing quality, engineering out cost and diversifying its product range. Keeping the strategic intent in mind guided each stage of the journey as the plan evolved. It guided the building of competences and capabilities and where resources should be invested.

Pursuing strategic intent can transform the use of a performance measurement system. Instead of focusing the measurement on whether or not a target is being met, or whether a plan is being followed, it puts understanding and learning central stage. We move towards questioning the effectiveness of actions, debating whether they support the intent and constantly learning to evolve. This happens throughout the organisation, not just at the top. So decisions are made faster locally but within the parameters of delivering the intent. Sure, mistakes get made, but when done quickly, people get feedback, respond and learn.

So measurement is about guidance, not control. It is about direction, not adherence to a plan. It is about creating the future not belabouring the past and above all it is about learning quickly from our mistakes.