What's an initiative, anyway?
04/24/08 1:30 PM

Hi,

I've been working with the BSC for a few years now, and have always thought that intiatives were basically the same thing as projects. A colleague of mine, however, just returned from a BSC class and said that a project needs to be "special" and strategic to be an initiative. What's the right answer? Is there really a difference? If so, when you inventory the initiatives, do you leave out the small ones?

Tina

RE: What's an initiative, anyway?
04/24/08 1:42 PM

Tina,

You make a good point -- there is a little discrepancy between how we talk about initiatives when we're rationalizing initiatives and when we're managing initiatives. When you're getting an inventory of your initiatives, you should cast your net wide and get all the projects that are going on in the organization. This will help you find resources for your real "strategic" initiatives. When you are reporting on initiatives in your strategy review meeting, you should limit yourself to the few true strategic initiatives.

Dylan

RE: What's an initiative, anyway?
07/15/08 11:03 AM

I think it is worth looking at all projects that you are undertaking at each division (or the top level and the business units). Once you determine which ones you should keep doing, you should then figure out which ones you should be budgeting and reporting on during the management meetings. Some will just be operational, and they do not need to be disussed by leadership (except with big problems)...the strategic ones should be discussed regularly.