Strategy is a set of choices, not a document

Strategy is a set of choices, not a document

Many organisations have a strategy document. Far fewer have a strategy. The difference shows up on an ordinary Tuesday, when a manager has to decide between two good options and the document offers no help.

The test of a real strategy

A real strategy makes choices that a reasonable competitor might make differently. It says which customers you will serve and which you will not, where you will invest and where you will deliberately be average, and what you will stop doing to make room.

Three questions we ask every leadership team

1. Where will we win? Be specific about customers, products and geographies.
2. Why will we win there? Name the advantage you have or will build, and how you will know it is working.
3. What will we stop? If nothing is stopped, the new priorities will compete with old habits and lose.

From choices to rhythm

Once the choices are clear, give each one an owner, two or three measures and a place in the monthly management meeting. A strategy that is reviewed every quarter is a living tool. A strategy that is reviewed once a year is a document.

Keep it to one page

If your strategy needs fifty slides to explain, it will not guide decisions on the ground. The supporting analysis can be long. The strategy itself should fit on a page that every manager can read, remember and use.