How To Determine Your Future Resource Creation Processes – A diagnostic approach

Overview

Rather than focusing on fixed strategic goals, this paper proposes a diagnostic method to develop the processes that generate future resources. It builds on the idea that each organisation’s resource path is shaped by its past, and that future strategies must be tailored to fit both history and context.

Three Drivers of Resource Creation

1. Current Resource Stock – What resources does the firm already possess, and which of these are valuable and rare?
2. Past Creation Processes – How were those resources developed? Were they deliberate, emergent, or lucky?
3. Future Environment – What changes are anticipated, and how must resource creation adapt to match?

Four Resource Creation Modes

Based on task complexity and environmental stability, the paper outlines four distinct modes:

• Systematic (Simple/Stable) – Managed, centralised development of process efficiencies.
• Intuitive (Simple/Dynamic) – Entrepreneurial, reactive responses to emerging opportunities.
• Professional (Complex/Stable) – Specialist-driven, knowledge-based resource development.
• Creative (Complex/Dynamic) – Cross-functional, experimental innovation in high-change contexts.

The Role of Incongruent Processes

Firms that outperform their peers often blend conventional (congruent) processes with unexpected, incongruent ones. For example, Toyota augmented process efficiency with a culture of continuous improvement. WPP introduced systems thinking into a creative industry. These combinations can lead to truly differentiated capabilities.

Conclusion

Future success depends not just on what resources a firm has, but how it creates them. This paper encourages leaders to tailor resource creation strategies to fit their context, while also exploring unorthodox paths that could unlock competitive advantage. The right processes, not just the right plans, are what define resilient, high-performing firms.