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  • September–October 2020
  • Article
  • Harvard Business Review

When It's Time to Pivot, What's Your Story?: How to Sell Stakeholders on a New Strategy

By: Rory McDonald and Robert Bremner
  • Format:Print
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Abstract

To succeed, a new company must rally investors, staff, customers, and the media around a good story. But often that narrative turns out to be wrong, and entrepreneurs realize they need to change direction. How that shift is communicated can have a huge impact on a venture’s future. Through extensive research with founders, innovation chiefs, analysts, and journalists, the authors have identified stratagems for maintaining stakeholder support during pivots. Early on, entrepreneurs should avoid a focus on overly specific solutions and instead present the big picture. When changing course, they can then signal continuity by explaining how the new plan fits with the original vision. Once the reboot has happened, it’s critical to be conciliatory and empathetic to stakeholders who may feel abandoned. Employees and customers are far more willing to remain loyal if given guidance about how they’ll be affected and if leaders seem to genuinely care about their situation.

Keywords

Entrepreneurship; Business Model; Strategy; Change Management; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Communication Strategy; Business and Stakeholder Relations

Citation

McDonald, Rory, and Robert Bremner. "When It's Time to Pivot, What's Your Story?: How to Sell Stakeholders on a New Strategy." Harvard Business Review 98, no. 5 (September–October 2020): 98–105.
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About The Author

Rory M. McDonald

Technology and Operations Management
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    • December 2022
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    • September 2022
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More from the Authors
  • Shaping Nascent Industries: Innovation Strategy and Regulatory Uncertainty in Personal Genomics By: Cheng Gao and Rory McDonald
  • How Leaders with Divergent Visions Generate Novel Strategy: Navigating the Paradox of Preservation and Modernization in Swiss Watchmaking By: Ryan Raffaelli, Rich DeJordy and Rory M. McDonald
  • A Spanner in the Works: Category-Spanning Entrants and Audience Valuation of Incumbents By: Rory M. McDonald and Ryan T. Allen
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