One of the most abused words in the business context. Any path or action is referred to as Strategy. The world tactical seems to be too derisive to be used. Let’s get this clear. We might have the greatest of Gurus talking about strategy but we don’t seem to get it. Let me make the definition of strategy so that we can get onto the same page before we proceed.
To me, Strategy is a differentiated directional roadmap that borders on philosophical yet aspirational, perceptive yet definitive that aligns with the organizations vision, intrinsically entwined with the mission. It should strengthen the vision, embolden the dream, energize the team and inspire the stakeholders.
Wah Wah there you go. A lot of motherhood statements. Theorizations isn’t that difficult but translating the above into affirmative and believable strategy is the biggest challenge for most. A lot of companies today that I have had a chance to interact with get stuck in the mission and vision statements. The “Why” of my Businesses and the what do I want to achieve seems to have engulfed their thoughts and mostly come up with “not so original” vision and mission statements. You could borrow a shirt but not your underpants, can you?
So let’s get to the issue on why most people fail to find meaningful relevant vision and mission? Because there is none !!!!! Is that a fault? Does every company need a vision, mission, strategy to excel in the business world? Not at all. Some do it without a conscious knowledge, some have it with a single minded focus on excellence, some have it with the ability to capture opportunities, some have it with an eye for investing but do not frame it in words or into a vision / mission statement. Its intrinsically etched into their system and their inability to express into words doesn’t mean that they have none. It’s just that they don’t write one.
But, I have seen companies with no strategy, no vision (except revenue), extremely tactical but excellent in executing the tactics achieving success.
I can see quite a few nodding their heads and stating ………yes. why do I need strategy etc. its pure English. As long as you want to run it as a business, have no interest in expansion; there is no need for a strategy. Focus on capitalising every opportunity in your vicinity, do your best to sustain that into a profitable business. Life continues. It’s a reactive life, business, outlook and engagement. Anything wrong about it? In the marketing parlance those are the laggards, the last ones to adopt. Catch onto to the IN-THING. You could either go by Ford theory of “Why not do it better?” or go by pricing it lesser. But remember all other things being equal or better will only get you the market when the pricing is lesser.
Strategy is proactive. Strategy is built with the ability to forecast the future. The direction of what is likely to happen, the ability to look at multiple disconnected factors and see the coagulation and how that could disrupt your business or the way we do things. It’s about the ability to foresee the new normal. It is this constant curiosity to look at competition, the market demands and the likely impact on convenience, cost and meeting an unmet demand. It’s the constant striving to look at all these factors and see how to reorganize, re-structure, re-orient and re-think on the future of your business. It could be a product, the operations, the sales and marketing or customer experience but we need to redefine the way for us to continue to grow, lead and build a brand.
The difference between a tactical company and a strategic company can be summarized with this line – If you don’t stand for something, you won’t be known for anything.
In the future blogs I would like to focus on building a strategy, the relevance of it and the importance of it for organizations of all sizes.
