The experience at SkiStar demonstrates the viability of testing strategy in parallel to its development can work even in larger global companies. This approach also helps establish the importance of placing humans at the center of transformation to keep everyone engaged. There is a lot of excitement in the organization about rolling out the various offerings that came out of this strategy exercise. For example, the Valle app was already launched in early 2023. Another initiative, the recruitment platform and connected academy, is getting rolled out soon.
“Close collaboration and openness made it possible to create a lot of value in a really short time – I am excited to see what will come out of the collaboration going forward,” said Lisa Lindström, EY Global Consulting Innovation and Experience Design Leader.
SkiStar’s approach to building new businesses has several advantages over the traditional approach to strategy.
The execution is faster
The strategy has already been tested on the public, and the employees have already been involved from the initial stages so that they become automatic implementers. This is important because implementation is the most challenging part of any innovation. By putting employees at the center of co-creation, they are on board right from the start. The speed comes from building and testing ideas in a two-week sprint instead of theorizing something grand for a big, expensive launch.
The opportunity gets validated before implementation
This approach of experimentation gives the team implementing the strategy a strong grasp of whether they are “onto something” before making a major investment. It reduces risk and provides the comfort of knowing that any investment is into a strategy that the organization can execute.
It is easier to get stakeholder buy-in
It is easier to get stakeholder buy-in because the board and other stakeholders will understand what the strategy is as they will see it in action.
There is a common belief among EY teams that if an innovation feels too risky, it has probably gone wrong. This is because innovation is too important for a company to put its trust into something that is unlikely to succeed. Validating a strategy in parallel to its creation reduces risk and helps enable faster execution. In executing these programs, EY teams bring empathy at various levels to help the transition and, most importantly, bring speed to the transition.