What is a strategy? Fundamentals of successful strategic planning

Have you ever noticed how the question “What is a strategy?” rarely arises in the context of strategic planning? The word strategy is often used with the assumption that anyone involved in strategy development knows exactly what a strategy is. It has been my experience that such an assumption is often incorrect. Too often, those charged with the task of strategic planning in your organization do not know or understand the definition of strategy. The result is that what they end up calling a strategy is not really a strategy. With this consequence in mind, I will begin by discussing what a strategy is not.

Before you begin, please note that the point of this discussion is not to get caught up in semantics. The goal is for you and your planning team to have a unified basis for evaluating ideas so that you can begin the process of deliberately turning ideas into actionable strategies.

Strategy versus Tactics

As a strategic planning expert for over fifteen years, most of the time I am given a series of tactics when I ask a potential client what their current strategy is to achieve their goal. Most people think they have a strategy when all they really have are tactics. This confusion is common and can undermine the entire strategic planning process. It will be helpful to your strategic planning efforts to understand and be able to distinguish strategy versus tactics.

Tactics are specific actions that promote the achievement of a strategy. The hierarchical order is like this:

A tactic supports the achievement of a strategy.

A strategy supports the achievement of an objective.

An objective supports the achievement of a mission.

A mission supports the achievement of a vision.

Achieving a vision fulfills the purpose.

Just having tactics without actionable, built-in strategies is the main reason so many business owners and executives get frustrated and just hang around. In other words, they are busier than ever and are investing significant resources, but not seeing significant progress on their goals or anything close to the expected return on their investment.

Please don’t think for a moment that tactics play any less valuable role in the success of an objective. The correct tactics are just as important as the correct strategy. Ineffective tactical support can render an otherwise effective strategy useless (and sometimes destructive) in achieving an objective.

What is a strategy?

In its simplest form, a strategy is a clear decision and statement about a chosen course of action to achieve a specific goal or result. While this definition is succinct and sufficient for general discussion, this definition and others like it have no practical value for organizational strategic planning efforts. Why? It does not provide any basis for evaluating whether a strategy is feasible. Actionable strategies are the only ones that matter in business.

What is an actionable strategy?

From the perspective of successful strategic planning, there are two types of strategies: actionable strategies and all other strategies. My definition of an actionable strategy says:

An actionable strategy is a carefully considered decision about the most effective and efficient use of specific resources to systematically increase competitive advantage and profits over a specified period of time.

Side note: If increasing competitive advantage and profit over a specific period of time is not the goal of your current strategic planning efforts, simply substitute your goal in this definition to make it specific to your needs.

Actionable strategies are a critical part of the Actionable Strategic Planning® process, supporting business growth in multiple ways and improving your chances of success if the right minds are engaged in consistently monitoring, evaluating and integrating new information and adapting the strategy. as necessary.