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Can You Say What Your Strategy Is?

This is the compelling and thought-provoking title of an article by David J. Collis and Michael G. Rukstad in the April 2008 issue of the Harvard Business Review. An executive summary of the article can be found here. If you’re not an HBR subscriber, it is well worth paying a reprint fee to secure a copy of this article.

The authors’ premise is that “It’s a dirty little secret: Most executives cannot articulate the objective, scope, and advantage of their business in a simple statement. If they can’t, neither can anyone else.”

How true this is! Many business leaders plan, but far too often a well-crafted strategy flounders or fails altogether, often due to lack of real commitment to implementation. But even earlier in the process, the genesis of failure often begins with a lack of understanding of the company’s core strategy. As the HBR authors point out, failure to have a simple and clear statement of strategy can lead many organizations, executives and employees at all levels to become frustrated because no clear and articulated strategy exists for the company. This often leads to decisions made in a vacuum without proper strategic context and grounding or no decisions at all. “They fail to appreciate the necessity of having a simple, clear, succinct strategy statement that everyone can internalize for making difficult choices.”

Make no mistake: a company’s strategy statement is NOT its mission statement or its vision. If distilled to its very core, it IS a single actionable objective that will drive the company over the planning period, usually a term of 3-5 years. The strategy statement must be precise in that it sets out the objective to be achieved, the scope in which that is to occur and the means by which it will be done. It will set out what all within the organization will come to appreciate as the company’s competitive advantage in its marketplace. Once adopted and communicated, it will form the basis for decisions to be made and actions to be taken…and those that will not be undertaken.

To be sure, a company’s strategic planning initiative must be based on a firm commitment to engage in a planning and implementation process, understanding that it is a “forever and continuous” process, not an event to be checked off as completed. As importantly, it also needs to be with an understanding that getting to simplicity often follows complexity; that developing a simple strategy statement can require in-depth and difficult discussions over a period of time.

It will not be easy, but this is the essence of real strategic planning. From an eventual simple, concise strategy statement, with determination, good things, even breakthrough results, can follow.

This publication is part of Blackman Kallick’s marketing of professional services, and is not written tax advice directed at the specific facts and circumstances of any person and/or entity. Contents of this publication are of a general nature, and you should not act on this information without obtaining professional advice from your business advisor that is appropriately tailored to your individual needs and circumstances. This written advice is not intended or written to be used, and cannot be used by any taxpayer, for the purpose of avoiding penalties that may be imposed under the Internal Revenue Code.