Strategy “is a grand-sounding word, and it is frequently misused by laymen as a synonym for tactics. In fact, strategy has a very different and quite simple meaning that flows from just one short set of questions. Who are we, and what are we ultimately trying to do here? How will we do it, and what resources and means will we employ in doing it? The four answers give rise to one’s strategy. Ideally, one’s tactics will then follow from them – that is, this is who we are, this is the outcome we wish to achieve, this is how we aim to do it, and this is what we will use to do it. But addressing the questions well can be surprisingly difficult, and if the answers are incorrect or incomplete, or the goals listed not reachable, then the consequences can be disastrous.” Thomas Ricks, author of Fiasco
I’ve sat during many a “strategic planning” meeting complete with multiple PowerPoint presentations and flip charts full of “goals” and arrowed diagrams on how to get there, but rarely does it occur to anyone around the table to ask the simple question: “Who are we and why does this business exist?” instead of jumping right into “goals” and then how to “achieve our goals.”
It’s a conversation I have with every client, and when I first ask it, I’m often met with crickets chirping silence. But I can tell you, once a business or individual has put in the sweat equity to reach a complete answer, the tactics we develop are invariably more successful.
