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In this blog, rather than talk about tools and methodologies, I want to mention a couple of things that are easily forgotten as we navigate the minutiae of plans and reviews and metrics and reports which often characterise our most important organisational endeavours.

The first is that when it comes down to it, strategy is simply about choices, or decisions if you prefer, hence the title of this blog. In a massive but useful simplification, I always argue that strategy is about answering two simple questions. The first is “What are we going to do?” The second is “What are we NOT going to do?” In my experience, the second question is a lot harder than the first and paradoxically is often the more important of the two.

Leaders are usually adept at seeing new possibilities, but much worse at consciously deciding to set opportunities aside in the interests of focus. That means that the portfolio of live initiatives in any organisation contains a whole load of noise and dissonance alongside the pure melodies and harmonies of those core initiatives that are genuinely contributing to its future direction.

But we’re getting ahead of ourselves. According to a recent study, forty-eight percent of leaders admit to spending a day or less a month on strategic planning for their organisation. Yet, ninety percent of them recognise the importance of an executable strategic plan. If these findings are correct, then it’s surely no surprise that so many organisations consistently fail to meet their strategic goals.

As Benjamin Franklin famously remarked, “If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail.” And yes, I do understand that a strategy is not the same as a plan, but how can you create a meaningful plan without a strategy?

An effective strategy begins with vision. It’s vital that you are crystal clear about your aspirations for your organisation and in what timeframe. Think of it as selecting your destination and your approximate arrival time. And by implication that means being clear about what is NOT included in that vision of the future as you see it. Choices right at the start.

Once you’ve done that you can begin to build a narrative which outlines the steps needed to achieve your vision and even begin to apply a timetable to them. This includes paying attention to questions like where, what with, and how?

For instance, the markets in which you intend to compete (where?), the way you intend to beat your competition (how?), the offerings and capabilities you will need (what with?) as well as a clear understanding of your concept of operations and how that enables you to progress towards your destination, including things like technology and systems.

There are a few frameworks around that help to enable this way of thinking, but I particularly like the “Playing to Win” methodology set out in the book of the same name by AG Lafley and Roger Martin, which my talented friend, Mark Gorton, introduced me to a couple of years ago. It elegantly presents the simple cascade of questions you need to ask yourself in order to develop an executable winning strategy.

It’s also worth remembering Marshall Goldsmith’s observation that “What got you here won’t get you there” and that there may be some tough people choices ahead, especially when it comes to assessing the capability of the organisation today compared with where you want it to be.

It is perhaps important to point out that strategy sets out your agenda at a point in time, and therefore should not be subject to dramatic change, but it also shouldn’t be viewed entirely as a singular event. Being resolute is good, blind adherence is bad.

Whilst the vision and aspiration should usually remain constant, the means of execution is subject to continuous review and adaptation as you learn from doing. As a former colleague of mine once remarked, “we reserve the right to get smarter.”

Similarly, internal and external factors and challenges within your sector can prompt the need to adapt your approach or re-visit some of your choices if you are to achieve your ultimate vision for the future. Once again, this requires conscious decision making and careful focus if you are to avoid the twin perils of being blown off course by distractions on the one hand or by rigidly adhering to a failed approach on the other.

Choices is the first thing I wanted to mention. The second is closer to home. People.

One of the most important and joyful benefits of a clearly articulated strategy is that it creates a vision for the people in your organisation to run towards. It removes well-intentioned drift.

Clear, measurable, and achievable goals help deliver clarity to roles and departments, mapping out how their contributions will achieve desired outcomes, but they only make real sense if the organisation at large can see why those goals, initiatives, and tasks are important because they understand the overall strategy.

In my somewhat unscientific opinion, inspiration is fundamental to successful strategy. People are your execution force, so give them something they can clearly understand and believe in. Why wouldn’t you?

When the people in your organisation clearly understand the strategy set out by their leaders, they have a context for their own contribution and can apply their own creativity and energy to the challenge at hand, often hugely improving the approach to execution, overcoming obstacles at speed, or simply avoiding roadblocks. Only by unleashing the power of your people is your success all but guaranteed.

Many of us will know the famous account of President John F Kennedy’s visit to NASA. As the story goes, during his visit the President saw a janitor carrying a broom. He walked over to him and said “Hi, I'm Jack Kennedy. What are you doing?” The janitor responded, “Well Mr. President, I'm helping put a man on the moon.” That connection to the collective vision is only possible when your people understand what your mission is and can see how their contribution relates to it.

Like I said, this isn’t a blog about strategic tools and techniques – I’d be happy to talk to you about those another time. Instead, I wanted to remind all of us that strategy is about choices and clarity. And by inspiring our organisations to run towards a clear and positive picture of the future we can harness their collective energy in an astonishing way, to the benefit of all stakeholders.

How Can Atlantic Cedar Help with Your Organisation’s Strategy?

As well as helping you get to a winning strategy in record time, we also understand that there is real magic in flawless execution.

We can help you turn your vision into an executable strategy. We can also provide you with access to the capabilities you need to help get the job done. And we can help you build the capabilities that you want in house to make your journey sustainable long after we’ve gone.