Don't do it - you are a better person than that

The tragic abuse of strategy

It is so tempting… it feels so good… but please resist the temptation ….you are better person than that ….. drop the word strategy from that presentation….

It is impossible these days to sit in a business meeting, read an article or listen to a podcast without hearing the word strategy multiple times. There seems to be this widespread belief if you just add the word strategy or strategic in a title that the work is suddenly transformed into greater importance …. Or even infallibility….

• “Strategic Sourcing”

• “Strategic Talent Management”

• “Strategic Marketing” 

Even small businesses have discovered the glory and recognition that comes from being strategic

• Strategic Janitorial (Oklahoma City)

• Strategic Grounds Management ( South Easton, Massachusetts)

• Strategic Sanitation Services (Mission Viejo, California)

• Strategic Plumbing  (Haltom City Texas)

Don’t get me wrong – I am impressed these clever business owners learned how to immediately elevate their businesses to their rightful place.

I have never been accused of being a fashion hound…. I am happy with the coffee from the Exxon station….. and I am just fine with a $15 bottle of Malbec from Argentina ….but I will confess to being a strategy snob……

When I see the word strategy slapped on a presentation, spilled into a podcast or dribbled carelessly through a new business book, I just shake my head. So little of what is labeled strategy comes even close ….

Strategy is the second most abused word in business today …..right after Digital Transformation…..

I have had the chance to see quite a few “business strategies” over the years.  Sometimes the word strategy has been stamped on some grand vision or on the laundry list of aspirations from a leadership team.

But more often teams have worked hard to bring together a big, polished strategy document…. there is very well-organized information on market size, a list of competitors, in depth financial projections, detailed operations metrics, a brightly colored and clever marketing plan, and a heartwarming talent perspective all wrapped in an inspiring and aspirational vision.  It is a very professional and thorough business plan – but it isn’t a strategy. There is not a shred of strategy to be found in the 200 pages of this glorious business plan.

“If you call a tail a leg, how many legs has a dog? Five? No, calling a tail a leg don’t make it a leg.” Abraham Lincoln

Does it matter? Maybe not….  There are many successful businesses that never hired BCG or Bain ….. never produced all the fancy strategic analyses.  But it is very rare to find a business that has delivered higher than average returns that does not have an explicit or implicit strategy…. perhaps even accidentally.

And just to be clear – there are many failed businesses that had a strategy – it just turned out to be the wrong strategy. In fact, one might argue that having an explicit strategy increases the chances of failure.

The bigger issue is the distraction - managers making half -baked attempts and proclamations of creating a strategy when they should be more focused on the less glamorous work of rigorously executing on a strategy…..

Ok - well what the hell is this thing called “strategy” ?? 

There are few subjects that have been explored, explained and exploited more than strategy – the landscape of experts is vast. We can dive deep into military history (Sun-Tzu, Carl Von Clausewitz ).   We can explore the great consulting thought leaders ( Michael Porter,  Henderson, Tracy and Wiersma, Hamel, Prahalad). We can refer to the long list of academics (Porter, Christensen, Mintzburg, McGrath….) …..and we can study the political dimensions (Machiavelli). I am undoubtedly missing someone very important …

I like Sir Lawrence Freedman’s perspective that strategy is about getting more out of a situation than the starting balance of power would suggest.

It would be easy to get caught up and distracted by the complexity of “strategy”. But if we are to make strategy useful at all in our businesses we must have a workable approach. (Do we need a strategy for dealing with strategy ??)

It strikes me that for us mere mortals we might be able to boil down this complex and bottomless subject into five basic dimensions:

1. Context – Porter’s Five Forces is, in my opinion, the best and easiest framework.

2. Competitive Advantage – What elements of the value chain are demonstrably better than competitors? (Porter again)

3. Choices – What are the explicit tradeoffs being made? I find the Treacy Wiersema framework the most helpful.

4. Human element – Machiavelli seems to be the reference point – but it is far from simple. W.C. Fields is also helpful.

5. Execution – It is all wasted if there is not an explicit approach to executing the strategy.

Next week I’ll make a fool’s attempt at a simple guide to each of these areas…..

In the meantime, I encourage you to think strategically about your next PowerPoint document…. And to develop a strategy for putting your shoes on in the morning.

A few thoughts for a Friday…..

Walt