Strategic Intent

In the field of management and organizational development, strategic intent is defined as a compelling statement about where an organization is going that succinctly conveys a sense of what that organization wants to achieve in the long term. Strategic intent answers the question: “What exactly are we trying to accomplish?”

• Strategic intent can provide a sense of direction, a particular point of view about the long-term market or competitive position the organization hopes to develop and occupy.
• Strategic intent can provide a sense of discovery in that it holds out to the organization’s members the promise of learning about other organizations that operate in the same market, adopting their best practices and avoiding pitfalls.
• Strategic intent can provide a sense of destiny, a worthwhile goal around which energies can be focused across the organization.

source: Arich

'Developing a Statement of Strategic Intent
Strategic intent takes the form of a number of corporate challenges, specified as short term projects and opportunities.

The strategic intent must convey a significant stretch for your company, a sense of direction, discovery, and opportunity that can be communicated as worthwhile to all employees. It should not focus so much on today's problems, which are normally dealt with by company visions and missions, but rather on tomorrow's opportunities.

The strategic focus is the starting point for developing a statement of strategic intent. A statement of strategy must become then a statement of design through which the principles, processes and practices of an organization are developed. These statements must represent the whole as seen from any location in the organization.

Your strategic intent should also be accompanied by intermediate goals against which company achievements can be measured. It cannot be developed in a one-day strategy session, it should develop and mature with time.

Discovery and detection of opportunity serve as platforms for developing strategic intent. It is based on a vision of how the future will look in 10-15 years. A strategic intent creates a picture of the customer daily life and describes discontinuities and anticipated changes from the world of today. It describes future customer's needs and the success factors required for meeting these needs. "To achieve great things, you need ambitious visions

Strategic intent should specify the competitive factors, the factors critical to success in the future.