What is “Strategy” – really?

What is business strategy, really? Countless books have been written on it, hundreds of fancy models and frameworks exist to help companies frame and execute it, and it’s an integral part of elite MBA course curricula around the world. And yet, most people struggle to answer this question!

The simplest way that I can define strategy is to find your “Aha!” as a business and then stick to it come what may. After all, business is a combination of warfare and sport. To win in business, you need to first clearly define what it is that you’re competing on. And then, base all your decisions around it. Period.

This may sound simple, but it really isn’t. To begin with, a lot of businesses aren’t even clear on what they’re competing on. For instance, many companies profess that they are competing on quality, but then scrimp on paying a few extra bucks to enhance their end user experience or plug a systemic gap that’s affecting their quality of delivery. That’s a strategy battle lost right there. Over the years, these muddled decisions cost companies dearly!

In the end, strategy cannot exist in isolation from your vision and mission, but rather needs to bind your day-to-day actions and decision making to them. For instance, our mission at Chimes Aviation Academy (CAA) is to “deliver quality training, on time, using modern systems, experienced faculty, and the finest infrastructure at par with global standards”. By extension, our “Aha” revolves around providing stable quality of training, timely course completion and a fantastic student experience. It does NOT revolve around cutting corners and “providing the cheapest possible route to acquiring a CPL”! Keeping this in mind when faced with a strategic crossroads not just simplifies decision making, but also keeps our competitive advantage thriving, instead of slowly diluting it.

Your strategy, by extension, must bring complete clarity of thought and simplify your day-to-day decision making. It also must drive top to bottom organizational alignment on key strategic initiatives by automating buy-in. When everyone in the company is aware about (and aligned to) your “Aha”, friction dissipates and magic happens! Things move fast. Elephants dance.

Strategic thinking is really less about complex spreadsheets and models and more about common sense. Coming to work every day and asking yourselves (and each other) – how can I enhance my “Aha”? What am I doing right now that could be potentially eroding it now or in the future, and how can I plug those gaps with precision and an indomitable spirit? Are my present actions in alignment with my “Aha”? Am I regularly having discussions with key stakeholders around it? Am I measuring it - and being brutally honest with myself about the inferences? These simple actions are a far more effective approach that fancy stuff like Porter’s 5 forces models, VRIO frameworks, OKR frameworks etc that result in glossy presentations with little or no long-term benefits!