Strategy is probably one of the most misused words in the corporate world. Managers and executives pepper it in their day-to-day business communication. Not to mention the word appearing in every CV numerous times.
So, what is strategy?
As per the Cambridge Dictionary, Strategy is a detailed plan for achieving success in situations such as war, politics, business, industry, or sport, or the skill of planning for such situations.
To my mind the meaning of strategy is a little more nuanced. While all of the above meaning stands good, Strategy is the “Cleverness” element in the plan. “Cleverness” in the plan is what makes one strategy better than the other.
Hence, Strategy is an intelligent plan to achieve specific goals or objectives developed taking into consideration
- the available resources and known constraints,
- current and future external favorable and unfavorable factors
- current and future internal strengths and weaknesses
Assessment of the above four elements using many available strategy tools, such as SWOT Analysis, PESTEL, 6Ws, Porter’s Five Forces, McKinsey’s 7S etc. is the beginning of developing a strategy. It defines the playground and its boundary. The terrain on which the plan must be executed.
Strategy development would require identifying which of the factors are Controllable and non-controllable. What is the nature and degree of influence – positive, neutral, or negative (risk). The probability of future internal and external factors happening.
The strategy or ‘cleverness’ in the plan is in defining the path to achieving the objectives by leveraging the favourable factors while mitigating/avoiding the unfavourable ones. Many known frameworks such as BCG Matrix, Igor Ansoff Matrix etc. help in developing a strategy.
There are so many factors which influence a business to varying degrees that the possibility of permutations and combinations of ideas are innumerable. The key to the “Cleverness” factor or the strategy in a given context is to make the process as objective as possible with a minimum level of subjectivity.
Having said the above, the best strategy can fall flat if not executed well. The key to execution is translating the strategy to each business function with timeboundactionables, monitoring the activities, analyzing outcomes and being agile enough to pivot. And having a tactical plan to execute the actionables efficiently ensures the success of a strategy.
