Making The Magic

Gartner’s Magic Quadrant

Vision is fundamental to any organization. It defines the enduring purpose and intent that inspires, unites, and creates identity. Strategy and Culture emanate from Vision. The combined effect of these strategic elements is ultimately judged in terms of market performance.

Gartner, a trusted, independent source of performance appraisal in technology, defines market position in terms of ‘ability to execute’ and ‘completeness of vision’. Their ‘Magic Quadrant’ (upper right) demands excelling at both.

Companies use Gartner’s feedback to focus their Mission and strategic initiatives for improving Products, Operations, and perhaps even Vision. Feedback is essential for identifying what’s needed to shift market position.

The Magic Culture

What’s not obvious is the role a company’s culture plays in moving the needle. Company culture DIRECTLY impacts market performance. Sustained status in the ‘Magic Quadrant’ requires a ‘Magic Culture.’ Magic Cultures are where synergy is found - possessing high resilience and ingenuity from maintaining well-aligned, synergistic connections throughout the organization and ecosystem. These connections allow the organization to anticipate how the future will unfold. This is what allows them to stay on top.

On a comparative basis, cultures lacking in resilience or ingenuity fall into one of the other three Operating States:

INSULAR

High internal knowledge sharing, but limited exposure to new ideas. System is coherent but inward-focused. Strong ties within clustered sub-organizations but siloed; they suffer from a lack of connectivity between clusters.

PLURALISTIC

Novel inputs abound, but local knowledge is fragmented or isolated. Innovation occurs but has no depth or traction. Diverse but loosely connected; multiple hubs emerge, enabling innovation but sometimes leading to misalignment or competing priorities.

TUMULTUOUS

Neither internal knowledge nor new information flows well. System is chaotic and disconnected. Disordered interactions with no clear structure; unchecked feedback loops cause instability; lack of adaptive mechanisms leads to conflict and inefficiency.

Stirring the Magic

When culture is taken into consideration, the Strategic Framework shown in figure 2 becomes more robust, as depicted here.

Leadership teams armed with a vibrant Vision, Strategy and Culture that resonate strongly will create virtuous cycles that accelerate and cohere.

Ready for some magic?

Business Ingenuity’s Operating State survey is designed to help companies achieve or maintain Magic Quadrant status through establishing a synergistic Operating State. The analysis we provide will identify where alignment is missing for leveraging Gartner recommendations.

Get in touch; we’d be happy to explain all this in more detail.