It’s amazing that we are still filling strategy roles aligned to a VP whilst we create lists to lay people off. Can someone help me understand what that role does vs the VP, SR. directors and Directors that exist on the teams already? None of the highly paid folks have any ideas of their own so they need to bring in someone else to think for them? Talk about overhead.
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About execution? From the post above? Most of the new Strategy folks brought in come from consulting firms. That not an accident. One thing about that pattern though? None of them are good at execution. McKinsey’s contract with Cisco to aid with the Splunk merger ended when the deal closed. Now to see how long it will take to bring Splunk into the fold. Meraki is still functioning much like it’s own entity. That costs Cisco $$$$
Ok, if you want to really know. These are the top reasons we have strategy roles:
- Male VP fooling around with a female employee. Strategy promotion to the female employee is a quid pro quo
- Male VP having a male Strategy Director: just another form of quid pro quo. You protect my secrets and I will give you a ‘no accountability’ job
- Female VP having a female Strategy Director: well we are Jews and we need to be together
- Black VP having a a black CoS: this company is wok so let me just take care or my own
I've seen thousands of slides on strategy
What's missing is the execution and accountability
We are recruiting for hot air meetings talkers and not doers
The VP has "authority without accountability"
Strategy roles take the fall if the VP fails at an initiative. Within the Strategy roles, the VP categorizes them as Golden Children, Scapegoats, or Ignores them. It's rather fun to watch the constant unnecessary chaos : )
The one constant at Cisco is most VPs & above have severe childhood trauma.
Strategy roles execute on the strategy that the VP's put together. VP's come up with the ideas, strategy people make them happen. Or try to anyway... with priorities changing every new leader and every new quarter, makes it hard to keep anything going or finish anything.