Strategy is...
Musings, perspectives and other thoughts
I’ve noticed several ‘assertions’ on social media recently about what strategy really is (and is not), with the posters staking out definitive positions (and of course receiving lots of ‘Likes’ and ‘Comments’, which might just have been the purpose of the posts, rather than stimulating genuine open discussion! A lot of these posts take the form, “x% of companies / organisations / people are doing this wrong, they should be doing it like this.” Mmm…).
It set me thinking about some of the interpretations of what strategy is, and attempts to create a universally applicable, all-encompassing, unchallengeable definition(!). Here are some of the descriptions of strategy I generated using a Perplexity prompt:-
Strategy is a plan – a consciously intended course of action or guideline set, made in advance to deal with a situation.
Strategy is a pattern – a consistent pattern in a stream of actions, whether or not it was intended (emergent strategy).
Strategy is a position – how the organisation is located in its environment and industry, the “match” between internal strengths and external context.
Strategy is a perspective – a shared mindset or worldview: the ingrained way an organisation sees the world and itself.
Strategy is a ploy – a specific manoeuvre to outwit rivals or gain an advantage in a particular situation
Strategy is direction – an overall sense of where the organisation is heading over the long term: its mission, vision, strategic intent and priorities.
Strategy is choice – a set of fundamental choices about where to compete and how to win, made under conditions of constraint and uncertainty (trade‑offs, priorities).
Strategy is configuration – a particular combination of activities, resources and capabilities that fit together to deliver advantage.
Strategy is a platform – a base of assets, capabilities or technologies on which multiple products, services or ecosystems can be built.
Strategy is a guide – a reference point for day‑to‑day decisions, resource allocation and behaviour across the organisation.
Strategy is a narrative – a story about who we are, where we are going and how we will get there, aligning internal and external stakeholders.
Strategy is a process – an ongoing organisational process of sensing, deciding, learning and adapting over time.
Strategy is practice/work – what people actually do when they “do strategy” (meetings, tools, conversations, routines, political activity).
Strategy is a pattern of decisions – a coherent set of decisions over time, not a single choice or plan.
Strategy is resource deployment – how scarce resources are allocated across opportunities, markets and activities.
Strategy is value creation and capture – the logic of how the firm creates value for others and captures value for itself.
Strategy is problem‑solving under competition – ways of dealing with rivals, regulators and other players in a contested environment
It is difficult to argue that any of these is wrong - but it’s also difficult to argue that any single one of them is more ‘right’ than the others. Similarly, whilst all of them are valid, that doesn’t mean that all of these interpretations have to apply in all ‘strategy’ situations: some are more relevant to some organisations at particular times, and others at different times (even to the same organisation).
I think that the same argument applies to the various ‘strategy frameworks’ than might be chosen by organisations to guide their approach to strategy, whether that’s ‘Balanced Scorecard’, ‘Blue Ocean Strategy’, ‘OKRs’, ‘Business Model Canvas’ ‘Open Strategy’, or any of the others that have become fashionable over the years. Each one is valid, each one is useful, each one has the capability to inspire, inform and energise the strategy work in an organisation: the key strategy leadership skill is to choose the approach that is most appropriate - and, importantly, most helpful - for that organisation at that particular time.
It’s easy to get enthused by the latest ‘fashion’, to seize on a ‘new’ approach as ‘the answer’ - a silver bullet that, if adopted ‘properly’ will ensure a successful strategy result. The craft of strategy leadership however lies in the ability to adopt an approach that might help the organisation at that time, and (even more importantly) to be able to adapt it as its strategy work develops.
There’s an analogy in a question that I’ve been asked several times by CEOs at a very early stage of the strategic planning process they’ve asked me to help them with: “What should the strategic plan document look like?”. Put to one side the fact that it is the strategic planning process that will actually determine this - and which is arguably at least just as important in the longer term than ‘the document’ that is just one output from this (albeit a high profile one within the organisation); it’s a question that indicates to me a misguided assumption that there is a ‘best practice’ format, and perhaps a ‘best practice’ approach to strategy that the organisation ought to follow.
As a thought-exercise, consider what might happen if an organisation attempted to adopt all the ‘Strategy is…’ interpretations in the illustrative list that I generated using Perplexity - for example, working through these as a checklist to ensure that every one of them had been covered? Or attempting to produce a strategic plan document that articulated all perspectives and inputs, and included all foreseen eventualities in comprehensive detail? The organisational effort involved would be exhaustive - and in aiming to determine and articulate ‘the perfect strategy’ there would likely be no energy, no attention, nothing left to live ‘in the present’, to see and feel and deal with what is and what is emerging. It’s a doomed attempt to define the future.
I think that is why over the past few years I have become increasingly convinced of the importance of organisations working to develop the strategy capabilities to adopt a much more dynamic, ongoing, adaptable approach to strategy. It’s a focus on not just one interpretation of what strategy is, or adopting a particular strategy framework, or attempting to ‘have all the answers’; rather it’s developing the organisational ability to think, question and talk strategically, to learn and adapt, and to approach whatever the future might bring with confidence. This means adopting whatever approach, whichever of the ‘strategy is…’ interpretations are right for the organisation at that particular time - whatever is needed, whatever is relevant and appropriate for that situation.
It’s not about the perfect answers, or best practice approaches, or the latest frameworks. Ultimately, at its heart strategy work is about helping people in an organisation understand how to work together on the next stage of their organisation’s journey, and that’s what really matters.