Horizons

The most dangerous strategy is to jump a chasm in two leaps - Benjamin Disraeli

Why are there different levels in an organization? CEO, VP, Director, etc.??? In some cases it's to delegate responsibility, one person can only manage so much. In a mature company, I think, it's to provide a different view of the Horizon, which is needed to develop long term strategy and direction to a growing company. For Example:

• CEO - horizon focus is 1 1/2 to 3 years
• VP - horizon focus is 9 months to 2 years
• Director - horizon focus 6 months to a year
• Manager - horizon focus 3 months to 9 months

There should be an overlap from level to level to ensure a continuous strategic landscape and the summation of all the strategies at each level should reflect a smooth progression of an overall corporate/company direction. Some levels might be transitional in cases where a corporate focus change is needed and planned for (Kodak's change from film to digital).

What is a Horizon gap? Simply a missing level of strategy caused by the person not performing their role properly. For example the CEO is focusing on the 1 to 2 year strategy and the VP is focusing on the day-to-day issues. The transition from the different horizon points is missing and the risk of failure is significant.