Navigating rough patches with military precision

By Macharia Kamau

For a man who has lived a better part of his life ducking grenades and gunfire in the battlefield, former military man Sir Robert Fry has settled in well in the business world and is now helping companies navigate turbulent times using military strategies.

As he takes his position the boardroom, however, Fry is not literally blowing up competitor’s buildings and infrastructure with his military tactics but employing strategies used by armies into an organisation.

The executive chairman of McKinney Rogers, a business-consulting firm headquartered in the UK, had a full military career and rose to being Commandant General of the Royal Marines Commandos.

Shortly before retiring from the military in 2007, he held the position of Deputy Commanding General of the coalition forces in Iraq. Fry, who holds a bachelors degree in economics and a master of arts in war studies, joined the marines in 1973.

Robert Fry: The executive chairman of McKinney Rogers, a business-consulting firm headquartered in the UK, had a full military career and rose to being Commandant General of the Royal Marines Commandos. Photo: Andrew Kilonzi/Standard

He is now using his military knowledge and experience acquired from a career spanning over 30 years in the military to counsel business leaders around the world on how to navigate both expected and unexpected challenges.

He first worked with computer maker Hewlett Packard as the Europe, the Middle East and Africa, (EMEA) regional Vice President for Defence and Security before joining McKinney Rogers as chairman.

Fry was in the country recently to market the local arm of McKinney Rogers and its solutions he says can see companies sail adverse times unscathed and even scout opportunities brought about by adversity.

He says the transition from military to a world businessman was easier than expected, adding that both areas have a lot in common, a factor that may have made the transition seamless.

"It was surprisingly not difficult to transit from the military role into a business executive for me," he said.

"I have come across many similarities between military and business, the most obvious one being that both face an adversary at all times. In the military it is the enemy combatant while in business it is the competition and both need a strategy to defeat their opponents."

"In both instances, it entails taking a strategy and trying to turn it into results. It also involves getting your team to buy into the strategy before implementing it."

Business execution

The firm has adopted what it says is a new concept that it refers to as business execution. The concept entails getting a company’s staff to internalise and align their thinking to the business strategy.

It also involves bonding among colleagues to create an environment of camaraderie just as in the military.

"The military excels at providing an internal narrative from strategic vision to execution that unites people behind the mission... rarely do you find the same shared sense of purpose in businesses," he said.

He says for the concept to work, employees at all levels need to evaluate the organisation, analyse their part in the strategy and undertake to fulfill it. Many firms undertake a similar exercise but leave out low cadre employees, who are in most instances left to do the actual work.

"Your business strategy is not worth the paper it is written on unless it is cascaded through all the levels within the organisation," he says.

He says if a company’s employees approach their work from such a perspective, it would minimise the effect of strategic shocks.

Strategic shocks may be triggered by premeditated events or accidents. The Kenyan economy has seen such shocks, which include prolonged dry spells, terrorist attacks and political related shocks that have had adverse effect on economy.

"It is difficult for businesses to anticipate what impact a strategic shock could have and to insulate against one, a firm has to ensure that a strong internal narrative links vision to practical execution," says Fry.

"With that, a firm can withstand anything thrown at it and even take advantage of opportunities that such shocks that might arise from such shocks."

Expansion plan

The consulting firm has had an office in Kenya - one of its 13 offices in the world - for the last three years, but is looking at increasing presence on the continent. It uses Kenyan office to service the region as well as the headquarters for its operations in Africa.

Unlike other multinational firms that have set up first in South Africa and use that to spread to Africa, Fry says McKinney Rogers would set up in South Africa at later stages of growth in Africa as it consolidates its African operations.

"We have turned that round and our plan is to enter South Africa from the back... we came to Kenya first because we felt it would give us a better texture for the region," he says.

McKinney Rogers recently set up an office in Nigeria, which Fry says would be a spring to other West African counties including Ghana.

On regional economy

He notes that local firms and the region should take advantage experienced in Asia in the last decade.

"Asia experienced good growth over the last decade and Africa has been projected to witness similar, even higher, growth rates in the coming 10 years... this is an opportunity for sub-Saharan Africa to take advantage of the growth in Asia and increase volumes of trade with the continent," he said.

"It should, however, take care not to create single dependency with Asia as being overly dependent on one region can be dangerous as a bubble burst, for instance in Asia, would see Africa suffer."