Strategy Meetings in Pharma Industry – Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #1126

Strategy Meetings in Pharma Industry – Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #1126

Dear Colleagues! This is Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #1126 for Pharma Veterans. Pharma Veterans Blogs are published by Asrar Qureshi on its dedicated site https://pharmaveterans.com. Please email to pharmaveterans2017@gmail.com  for publishing your contributions here.

Credit: Kampus Production

Cedit: Kampus Production

Preamble - Why Pharma Strategy Retreats Feel Like Replays -- And How to Reinvent Them

Having worked in pharma industry for decades, I have attended numerous strategy retreats which happen every year in any pharma company of substance. It has rather become a show that must be held every year. It is also desired that these should be held in newer, exotic places so that the participants feel more motivated. What I write below is reality as I became more aware of the futility of these retreats. Here is my take on this subject. I would also like to take up the brainstorming sessions that also happen in pharma industry, even more commonly.

Each year, as the calendar approaches its end, the bigger pharmaceutical companies begin orchestrating their annual strategy retreats. These are supposed to be defining moments — a chance to reflect, recalibrate, and reimagine the future. But more often than not, they end up feeling like a rerun of last year’s event.

Same presentations. Same jargon. Same conclusions.

For an industry at the heart of highly competitive marketing, why do these meetings feel so static, repetitive, and uninspired?

Let us explore the reasons behind this strategic déjà vu, and propose bold, actionable ideas to transform strategy retreats into genuinely forward-looking, innovative, and high-impact events.

The Problem: Repetition Without Reinvention

Pharma companies are among the most process-driven, compliance-sensitive, and financially regulated businesses. These factors understandably make them risk averse. But this conservatism often seeps into strategy retreats, reducing them to exercises in ritual rather than renewal.

Here’s why it happens.

Template Thinking Rules the Agenda

Most companies approach their year-end strategy meeting like they’re checking a box. The agenda follows a well-worn path:

• Previous year’s performance review

• Departmental presentations

• SWOT analysis

• Target-setting for the coming year

This structure is not just predictable, it’s mechanical. It prioritizes form over substance and fails to reflect the dynamic shifts occurring in the pharma ecosystem and marketplace.

The Fear of Bold Thinking

In pharma, innovation in drug development is celebrated, even in generic industry, but innovation in business strategy is often avoided. Leaders fear regulatory backlash, internal resistance, or unsettling the status quo. As a result, strategy discussions remain safe, surface-level, and centered on incremental improvements:

“Grow 30% more.”

“Launch ten new generics.”

“Optimize the sales force productivity.”

What’s missing? Disruption, imagination, and courage.

Too Much Data, Not Enough Dialogue

Pharma executives love numbers — but data overload can stifle insight. Most retreats become an Excel-and-PowerPoint marathon. Each department showcases its charts, trends, and forecasts, leaving little room for actual dialogue, debate, or problem-solving.

The question really is not: What did we do?

The question should be: What must we do differently, and why haven’t we done it yet?

Top-Down Noise, Bottom-Up Silence

Strategy retreats tend to be executive-centric. A few senior leaders dominate the conversation while others watch passively. There’s little inclusion of frontline voices — the sales reps who engage with doctors daily, the regulatory team battling for dossier approvals, or the digital transformation team trying to modernize operations.

Without horizontal participation, strategy becomes disconnected from reality.

Another even worse but usual situation is when the broad targets are already floated, particularly about growth, and the strategy meeting participants are required to find ways to make it happen anyhow. Of course, this is not strategy development, it is actually planning meeting, without questioning the premise given.

No Mechanism for Execution

Even when big ideas emerge, they often dissolve after the retreat ends. Why?

 No one owns the follow-up.

 No timelines are set.

 No review mechanisms exist.

The result? Great ideas die in post-retreat silence, and by next year, the same issues return — again.

The Opportunity for Change -- Rethinking Pharma Strategy Retreats

Pharma is changing rapidly. From drug discovery to regulatory evolution, personalized medicine, and new patient access models, the need for strategic adaptability has never been greater.

Here’s how to inject life, relevance, and impact into strategy retreats.

Frame the Retreat Around Big Strategic Questions

Ditch the standard agenda. Instead, design the retreat around a few high-stakes questions, such as:

Where will our next 1 or 5 or 10 billion in growth come from?

 What are the top three industry trends that could disrupt our model?

 What’s our moonshot for the next five years?

These questions invite critical thinking, cross-functional dialogue, and courageous imagination.

Invite External Provocateurs

Bring in non-traditional voices to participate, not to run the show.

• Healthcare futurists

• Regulatory experts

• Supply chain experts

• Patient advocacy leaders

• AI/technology specialists

Their role is not to endorse, but to challenge and provoke. This shatters the echo chamber and injects outside-in perspective that pharma companies desperately need.

Use Cross-Functional Challenge Teams

Abandon department-led sessions. Instead, assign people from different functions to tackle real-world challenges. For example:

 “Design a digital-first commercial launch model.”

 “Propose a go-to-market strategy for biosimilars in the developing market”

 “Build a 3-year plan to reduce regulatory approval timelines by 40%.”

Teams should work collaboratively, present informally, and face real-time feedback. It’s strategy as action, not abstraction.

Choose Inspiring, Immersive Venues

Leave the hill stations out. Hold your retreat in:

 A leading academic medical center

 A tech innovation lab

 A rural health clinic

 An incubation center

Let the venue reflect the theme. Environment matters, it shapes mindset, openness, and ambition.

Include Field and Customer Voices

Bring in sales reps who share customer pain points’ physicians or hospital partners who provide real feedback, patients or caregivers who discuss the gaps they face, distributors who work in the market every day, and pharmacy owners who meet patients all day.

These ground-level voices humanize the numbers and offer unfiltered insight into how your strategy actually affects people.

Set a Bold, Visionary Goal -- a “Moonshot”

In addition to operational KPIs, set a big, inspirational goal:

 “Become the first Pakistani company to manufacture vaccine at scale.”

 “Achieve 25% of revenue from international markets in 5 years.”

 “Digitize 100% of our regulatory filing process by 2026.”

Moonshots energize teams, attract talent, and provide a long-term narrative that goes beyond quarterly metrics.

Install a Post-Retreat Execution Framework

The retreat should end with:

• A documented set of strategic decisions

• Named owners for each strategic initiative

• A 30-60-90 day follow-up plan

• KPIs tied to strategic actions (not just sales performance)

What gets measured and reviewed, gets done.

Sum Up -- From Ritual to Reinvention

A strategy retreat should not be a symbolic ritual or an excuse for off-site networking, or worse still, an excuse for seeing a new place. It should be a strategic reset — a rare moment when an organization looks itself in the mirror, asks the tough questions, and dares to change.

For pharma companies that want to thrive — not just survive — in the future of healthcare, the time to reinvent strategy retreats is right now. Because in today’s world, doing the same thing better is not enough. The winners will be those who do better things.

Concluded.

Disclaimers: Pictures in these blogs are taken from free resources at Pexels, Pixabay, Unsplash, and Google. Credit is given where available. If a copyright claim is lodged, we shall remove the picture with appropriate regrets.

For most blogs, I research from several sources which are open to public. Their links are mentioned under references. There is no intent to infringe upon anyone’s copyrights. If, any claim is lodged, it will be acknowledged and recognized duly.