I spend a lot of time writing about the need for you to take your strategy from concept to action.
Which could lead you to believe that I am really anti-planning. Which couldn’t be further from the truth.
I want you to know that planning is the essential kickoff point for any successful strategy.
Without a plan, your strategy will just be a random collection of tactics…without any sort of organizing theme and no way for you to measure success or failure of your strategic efforts.
So what are some of the essential building blocks of strategy:
1. Start at the beginning:
Before you go into too much depth, you need to start by having a mission, goals, and organizational values. These 3 components are the building blocks of all of the strategies, tactics, and decisions that you are going to need to make to have a credible strategy.
2. Include as many people as possible:
Too many strategies fail because they are theoretical exercises that never really incorporate any feedback from the front lines.
The way to counteract that is by making the planning process as inclusive as possible.
This means getting feedback from the bottom, the middle, and using the top line executives to piece things together in the terms of their strategic efforts.
3. Don’t suck your own exhaust:
What this means is that you can’t get too attached to one way of thinking.
You can’t let yourself get stuck to just one way of looking at things. Just one worldview will do one thing to your organization, drive it into the ground.
That’s why you need to bring in people with talent in a number of areas, not just strategy. You need people that are strong in marketing, branding, project delivery, and other relevant skills.
Without a wide array of ideas and viewpoints, your strategy will be extremely limited.
4. Make your strategy a simple framework:
In my opinion, your strategy is really a living document.
One that enables you to make decisions that are either wise or unwise.
Wise decisions are focused on your long term goals but offer up actions that have short term impact.
Unwise decisions are the kind that steer you away from your long term goals or have no basis in your strategy.
5. The key is flexibility:
All of your planning, all of your strategic goals, the vision, the mission, and everything involved in your company’s strategy should be focused on the long term goals you aim for.
But the key thing that you need your strategy and your strategic framework to do is to provide the flexibility necessary for you to adjust your tactics when the market changes around you.