Are you doing strategy (right)?
Many businesses - and their leaders - don't really do strategy, let alone do strategy well.
For many, strategy is any or all of the following
- the CEO's priorities
- a (multi-year) plan
- ambitious objectives, goals and targets
- market aspirations and employee inspiration
- a portfolio of projects and initiatives to be planned, managed and delivered
"We just need to get there, and as fast as possible".
This is a precarious path to take, notwithstanding it may be profitable (and even work for some time). It is precarious because what you want to achieve can be easily replicated and replaced by others. It is a race to the bottom, or what we call perfect competition.
Genuine strategy attempts to reshape and redefine markets, based on a unique perspective of value. Good strategy is powerful and sustainable because a unique mix leads to a value offering that cannot be easily replicated, replaced or removed. Good strategy solves problems and meets needs, perhaps problems and needs that are not yet clearly defined or understood. Strategy is not all that you are going to do; it is where you think the market is critically going to be won and lost - what I call the decisive ground.
The strategy may then manifest in any of those items described above.