We learn more from adversity than stability.

If the above is true, many will emerge from 2021 with greater wisdom than they had when the year began.

Faced with the above, I challenged myself to think about the learning from 2021 and how that might best be applied going forward. Among my key takeaways are the following:

strategy is about HOW rather than WHAT. There are many examples in the public domain of so-called “strategic plans” being articulated as a series of ambitions. Absence of detail on how these wishes might be achieved renders them useless.
data doesn’t lie - but setting aside context, using inappropriate means of generating data, and being selective with the data that is drawn upon, distorts reality and leads to poor decision-making.
popular opinion shouldn’t suppress the minority view, particularly when tackling complex problems. If the 2008 financial crisis taught the world anything, it is that the majority view CAN BE wrong. There must be a place within all situations for conflicting views to be aired and examined. Respect for a diversity of opinion allows for consideration of a wider range of possibilities and better supports risk management and effective decision-making.

As regards applying this learning RML will double down on its commitment to:

support our customers to define strategy that clearly establishes HOW they will achieve their ambitions
ensure that all decision-making that we support is cognisant of context and under-pinned by data that has been appropriately collected and is suitable for the purpose
ensure that all opinions are respected, that time is taken to understand the basis of the opinion and that constructive debate takes place to rationalise to a consensual conclusion

We trust that by upholding these commitments our clients will be among those that benefit from the adversity of 2021.