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Aaron K. OlsonKeith Simerson
April 29, 2015
Brian Fitzpatrick joined Google as a senior software engineer in 2005, shortly
after the company s IPO. Brian specialized in open-source software development
and he quickly became a champion within the company for various initiatives
focused on end users.
One such project addressed a user s control of his personal data. Brian started
out working with two like-minded colleagues, but he soon attracted a broader
team of coders and supporters. Their crowning achievement was a service
launched in 2011 called Google Takeout, a unified site for exporting user data
from multiple services like Gmail and Google Photos.
Without any formal authority or role in organizational strategy, Brian drove
broad change across the company. What began as an independent effort became a
key component of corporate strategy, with then-CEO Eric Schmidt highlighting
Takeout to government regulators as evidence that Google wasn t pursuing
monopolistic practices such as customer lock-in.
In our view, Brian s work is an excellent demonstration of strategic
leadership. He developed unique insight to solve an emerging need and then he
drove transformational change to realize that vision. But Brian s
accomplishment challenges conventional definitions of strategic leadership. He
had no formal authority as a leader, operating without any title or mandate.
Also, all of his work was done outside the boundaries of strategic management
practices within the organization.
It has become increasingly accepted that the work of strategy is no longer
conducted solely from the C-suite. Companies like Google and 3M have benefited
from embracing innovation that comes from all parts of the organization. As
more companies seek to embrace this kind of emergent strategy-making, it s
worth examining what makes individuals like Brian successful. What are the key
actions of strategic leaders who drive innovation without formal authority?
To find out, we conducted a study examining over 300 leaders to identify the
actions that define strategic leadership. We started with focus groups drawn
from both our graduate class at Northwestern University and a global
high-potential program we run at Aon. Those individuals came from nine
countries and numerous industries. We asked them to identify a person they
considered strategic and then to describe what that leader did. We then
conducted in-depth interviews with a dozen of the leaders they cited, including
Brian at Google. For comparison purposes, we made sure that these leaders
included a mix of those with and without formal authority.
All these leaders demonstrated the essentials of classic strategic management.
They identified patterns that revealed new opportunities, they developed a
unique solution to create value, and they managed risks that could undermine
their success. While what they did was consistent, how the leaders in our study
did their work varied. Strategic leaders like Brian, who don t hold positions
of authority, operated in ways that were tailored to a less formal context.
Across the examples we ve analyzed, leaders who succeed strategically without
formal authority do five things well:
They develop a broad and varied network of relationships, allowing them to gain
insights and implement change in ways that are different than their peers.
Brian s network at Google went well beyond the engineering unit he was a part
of. He built this network proactively and used it first to understand the
mindset of key stakeholders and later to influence them to adopt his
suggestions. Getting to know colleagues in legal, public relations, and policy
provided Brian insight into strategic concerns that few of his fellow engineers
were aware of. These relationships also gave Brian influential advocates he
could call on when needed.
They identify strategy gaps, focusing on areas where existing solutions and
decision makers aren t addressing important needs. Brian knew that providing
users better control of personal data was critical to Google s success. He
noted public comments from Schmidt emphasizing that nothing prevented users
from switching away from Google. What Brian also noticed was that while this
was technically true, it was rather difficult to do in practice: users who
wanted to take their photos to a different service had to go through many
tedious steps to do so. For some Google services, it was so challenging as to
be impossible for the average user. Brian realized that while easy control of
personal information was important to both users and to Google, nobody in the
company was focused on addressing the issue.
They link their work to existing priorities, moving opportunistically to join
projects already under way. While Brian could explain his goals using
statements made by Eric Schmidt, this didn t give him automatic legitimacy or
the ability to compel others to adopt his recommendations. He had to find
willing partners that he could collaborate with. This initially led to projects
that weren t very prominent or impactful, but that gave Brian the chance to
gain experience and produce working examples. A big break came later when Brian
had the chance to partner with a major initiative the launch of Google+, the
company s competitive response to Facebook. The team building Google+ was
looking for ways to differentiate their product from Facebook and the ability
to control personal information was seen as compelling. Brian s prior work gave
him the chance to step in and help the team build that data control feature for
the product launch.
They work with an eye toward scale. Takeout was the logical culmination of
Brian s work, but it wasn t the starting point. He had to build several working
examples and a coalition of supporters before he found the right time to pursue
his broader ambitions. After Brian had completed several projects, he and his
team could more easily explain how tying them together via Takeout would be
better for users and for the company. Brian also took steps to make that future
decision easier, using common coding methods across those initial projects that
made each subsequent project easier. This approach to scaling up was a clear
case where those without formal authority had to approach their work
differently. Those with formal authority to make strategy can plan proactively
for longer term requirements and align resources accordingly. Strategic leaders
without formal backing still operate with the long term in mind, and they are
creative in planning their initial work so that they are ready to scale when
the time comes.
They orchestrate milestones to build their credibility, using a combination of
success stories and communication from supporters to legitimize their work. The
smaller projects that Brian s team started with let them experiment and prove
their concept. This gave them valuable feedback and built their confidence to
tackle bigger opportunities. Brian became more strategic in his project
selection as time passed, targeting products that were more technically
challenging and of greater impact. Along the way, Brian also focused on
creating advocates who could vouch for his team s work. The owners of initial
products provided testimonials and advocacy as the team sought to take on
bigger challenges. Often we see informal leaders use champions in positions of
authority to deliver key messages, encouraging them to call on their peers and
make recommendations that pave the way for further work. Eventually, these
leaders develop a track record that then allows them to exert influence in
their own right.
By doing these five things well, leaders without formal authority can create
value and even impact organizational strategy. This was clearly the case for
Brian at Google. Four years after its launch, Takeout continues to expand and
remains a critical component of the company s strategy. It has helped Google
avoid criticism regarding the handling of customer data even as the company
faces increasing overall scrutiny from regulators regarding other competitive
practices.
We consider these findings to be informative for organizations looking to
harness emergent innovation from their employees. Today, many companies are
focusing on idea generating activities like innovation challenges. Our findings
suggest that it is the individual leader and their ability to lead
strategically that is just as critical as the idea. Organizations and
individuals alike would be well served to avoid focusing on idea generation
alone, as it is strategic leadership focused on these five actions that creates
transformational change.
Aaron K. Olson is Chief Talent Officer at Aon plc, a global firm specializing
in risk management and human resources. He is the co-author of the book Leading
with Strategic Thinking and teaches graduate courses at Northwestern
University.
Keith Simerson provides consultation, executive coaching and leadership
development in the areas of strategy formulation and execution. He is the
co-author of Leading with Strategic Thinking and four additional books
including Strategic Planning: A Practical Guide. He also teaches graduate
courses at Northwestern University.