Thoughts On Strategy

Strategies: Strategies are the general, umbrella methods you intend to use to reach your vision.

Over my past 30 years in business I have read a great deal about strategy. I have found that the word means different things to different people. At times I have been working with executives who mix up the core thinking around strategy with task lists, objectives, goals, marketing and so on. My goal with this post is to explore how it doesn't need to be that complicated and strategic thinking is key to ongoing market differentiation and long term sustainability as a business. Execution of the strategy is what sets apart the best from the rest of the pack in your industry. Having a great idea or direction, but you can't execute it well is frustrating (and sad) at the least and business destroying at the worst.

I have been blessed to work in some very strategy heavy and focused companies early in my career, like Air Products & Chemicals, American Cyanamid, American Express all demonstrated to me that superior performance both is market reach and profitability , flowed from businesses and leaders of those companies that understood where success came from; strategy and the company wide alignment of strategy with culture.

So many times the whole organization is focused on addressing the current issue, order, contract that they lose sight of the path they should be on. They wander off into the weeds and while they might be executing tasks and getting the day to day done, the longer term value or worse yet results are missed. They disconnect from their "strategy anchor" and drift.

Strategy for me is the compass which all business decision making should be applied against. How does this project, investment, expenditure, sales plan etc. support the strategy, strengthen the strategy, reshape the strategy? The culture should feed the strategy, live the strategy, be the strategy.

Where It Starts

There seems to be a cycle within a business when dealing with strategy. It starts with a flat growth period in an old business, or a start-up that has gotten the first round of funding but now is challenge by the results of the market. Most people in business have experience with business planning, with budgets, with the operations of a business. Strategy is different. It is a deeper understanding of the "why" and "where" you are taking the company, product, team.

The toughest skill of solid strategy development is getting leaders of a business to be honest with themselves and the leadership on what is really the businesses weaknesses, threats, strengths and real opportunities.

A few quick thoughts on strategy development.

• Strategy development is a journey, not a document or grid. Getting all key areas of the business to be engaged and active in coming up with and bringing to life the strategy is so important. Yes there are deliverables in the process, but having the right people on the journey is very important.
• Need to include team building in the process, it allows people to build trust and willingness to share with the group and in many ways find a strategic path forward.
• Strategy cannot be created in a vacuum or by an outside entity – it can be guided or facilitated by someone not in the chain of command or the reporting structure (and I strongly recommend doing this) , but strategy must come from within. The company leaders must shape the strategy, embrace it and bring it to life.
• Tools to help form the strategy and also manage the strategy communication and great, but they are not the end all. Do not get fixated on a tool, or a current business book or theory. Instead use these to create the interest, the new thinking, the reach for the right thinking on strategy - then move on.
• Strategy is not tactics. I find that in technical and construction based businesses this can be confused – thinking a tactical list of 600 items/actions makes for a strategic plan. Tactics flow out of strategy but they are not one and the same.
• Give you and your team the space and time to think. The other issue I often see in the planning and development of strategy is the ability for an organization (whether an association, a corporation, a charity) allowing for time to think, to explore, to share. Having the capacity and the room to think, explore and challenge existing opportunities and development paths is important. Yes, there are deadlines, but transformational strategies need the space, the room to come forward.

The Building Blocks Of Strategy

To build a strategy that will not only generate the type of results an organization is looking for, but one(s) that are hardwired and built into the overall culture and actions of the organization there are a few building blocks needed.

Mission Statement: The mission statement is an overarching, timeless expression of your purpose and aspiration, addressing both what you seek to accomplish and the manner in which the organization seeks to accomplish it. It’s a declaration of why you exist as an organization.

Vision Statement: This short, concise statement of the organization’s future answers the question of what the organization will look like in five or more years.

Values Statement: or guiding principles: These statements are enduring, passionate, and distinctive core beliefs. They’re guiding principles that never change and are part of your strategic foundation.

SWOT: A SWOT is a summarized view of your current position, specifically your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.

Competitive Advantage: Your competitive advantage includes what you’re best at compared to the competition.

Long-term Strategic Objectives: These long-term strategic focus areas span a three-year (or more) time horizon. They answer the question of what you must focus on to achieve your vision.

Short-term Goals/Priorities/Initiatives: These items convert the strategic objectives into specific performance targets that fall within the one-to two-year time horizon. They state what, when, and who and are measurable.

Action Items/Plans: These specific statements explain how a goal will be accomplished. They’re the areas that move the strategy to operations and are generally executed by teams or individuals within one to two years.

The Questions To Ask Yourself To Define Your Strategy

• What is our strategic competitive advantage?
• What makes use special?
• What are our clients buying (really buying)?
• Is it sustainable, repeatable, predictable?
• Can we grow the business?

While the effort to develop strategy takes time, thinking, research and creativity - it also takes honesty with self, with the leaderships team of the organization. This in many ways 

This article is based on a series of conversations with Bruce Auger on strategy within the construction industry and other industries. For over ten years Bruce has provided me with mentoring and thinking on how to bring strategy to life within a company.