THE PROCESS OF EVALUATING STRATEGIES Strategy evaluation is necessary for all sizes and kinds of organizations. Strategy evaluation should initiate managerial questioning of expectations and assumptions, should trigger a review of objectives and values, and should stimulate creativity in generating alternatives and formulating criteria of evaluation. Regardless of the size of the organization, a certain amount of management by wandering around (MBWA) at all levels is essential to effective strategy evaluation.

Strategy-evaluation activities should be performed on a continuing basis, rather than at the end of specified periods of time of just after problems occur. Evaluating strategies on a continuous rather than a periodic basis allows benchmarks of progress to be established and more effectively monitored. Some strategies take years to implement; consequently, associated results may not become apparent for years. Successful strategists combine patience with a willingness to take corrective actions promptly when necessary. There always comes a time when corrective actions are needed in an organization. Centuries ago, a writer (perhaps Solomon) made the following observations about change:

There is time for everything, A time …. Managers and employees of an enterprise should be continually aware of progress being made toward achieving the firm’s objectives. As critical success factors change, organizational members should be involved in determining appropriate corrective actions. If assumptions and expectations deviate significantly from forecasts, then the firm should renew strategy-formulation activities, perhaps sooner than planned. In strategy evaluation, like strategy formulation and strategy implementation, people make the difference. Through involvement in the process of evaluating strategies, managers and employees become committed to keeping the firm moving steadily toward achieving objectives. Review “The Process of Evaluating Strategies”- Within this paragraph, there are several lines written by a philosopher and thinker and they start with "There is time for everything".

A time to be silent and a time to speak

Give a philosophical spin to it and give it your own flavor of understanding about anything that matters in life. Either way, each of these phrases has a deeper meaning and certainly some of them can help solve many of our own issues. There is no need to follow any pattern or concept from the book here, and you can write what matters the most to you by giving examples. An out-of-the-box thinking is welcome here too