The 7 deadly sins of strategy
And what to do about them
Strategy means different things to different people. A word with military roots now commonly used to describe everything from product and marketing to hiring and facilities.
Strategy at it’s core is the bridge between objective and action. It’s the map you take to your destination.
To use a map you need a destination. That’s something the map will not give you. Once you have a destination, you must make decisions about plotting a route. There are many routes available. Some more direct but through difficult terrain. Others less direct, demanding more time, and more provisions, but with a far gentler landscape and better conditions. Once you’ve plotted the route you must take action. Resouces must be packed. Preparations for weather conditions must be made. The right boots must be acquired and dutifully laced up. Each step must be willingly taken.
If you mapped your route well, and you engaged in the appropriate actions, sequentially, without detour or distraction, you will reach your destination.
The map is neither the desination nor the terrain. Strategy lives in the middle ground between vision in your minds eye and the reality on the ground.
The path for strategy is decisions, specifically on how resources will be deployed. Where you hire, where you spend, and what you discuss in your leadership meetings are all conduits to strategy.
Getting to the destination isn’t easy. Here’s the 7 worst ways strategy gets derailed — avoid these in your business at all costs.
1. Mistaking the goal for the strategy
It’s really common for people to talk about ‘market share’ or ‘growth’ as the strategy. But these are objectives. Destinations. Goals. While strategy is about how you will deploy your (limited) resources to get there, it is not, in and of itself, the goal.
2. Mistaking the tactics or actions for strategy
While propositions and products are important, they do not make a strategy. Pricing, bundling, distribution, and partnerships are vital to business, but again, are not strategy. Hiring practices and vendor selection are also very important, but they are not strategy. Tactics are the specific actions taken in a market. Tactics well executed in accordance with strategy create momentum towards a goal. Tactics are easy to change and are ripe ground for experimentation. Strategies, by contrast, are complex and require a higher level of attention.
Change your tactics often. But think twice before changing your strategy.
3. Using big words and jargon to describe strategy
There’s a seduction to using jargon, big words, and fancy sounding phrases to describe strategy. But in reality the more you do this the further you get from the truth. Good strategy is deceptively simple. You should be able to explain it to a 6 year old. The more wooly and vague the language, the more off course your are.
4. Aiming to get universal agreement on the strategy
You can’t define strategy by committee. Strategy development hinges on a clear decision maker driving difficult converstations among domain experts from cross functional backgrounds. The dialogue and discourse in this group is what shapes strategy. Trying to get everyone to agree is a fool’s errand — you want broad consensus, but be ok with not convincing everyone. The hold-outs are just as important.
5. Not considering customer needs
Your ability to execute your strategy will depend on having customers who want to buy your product or service. Building strategies without considering customer needs is a fool’s errand. Doesn’t matter how good your packaging or marketing is. If the product doesn’t meet customer needs, isn’t easy to acquire, and doesn’t present a clear benefit, no amount of strategy will fix it.
6. Overcommitting to your strategy
The market is a dynamic and fluid place. The strategy you define today may prove irrelevant tomorrow. Don’t be afraid to stay fluid and respond to new information as it comes up.
7. Undercommitting to your strategy
Committment is a knife that cuts both ways. While you don’t want to carry on with a strategy that proves miscalibrated, you also don’t want to quit too early. Recognising when to keep going and when to pull the plug is part art and part science.
Final words
The hardest phase is getting started. An object in motion stays in motion. Getting a strategy development process of the ground is the hardest thing. Once you establish a cadence of having the discussions with your team, it’s far easier to keep them going and drive towards an outcome. It’s also then far easier to re-establish a dialogue on the topic. Don’t be afraid to start. A basic Strategy is better than no strategy. Getting your north star in place is priority 1 for getting through the dark.
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