Beyond the Buzzword
Few business terms are as loaded as “strategy”.
Managers ask their teams to “think more strategically"“.
Founders fear their initial idea won’t translate into a long-term strategy.
And more than a few execs throw around the term to perhaps seem that bit smarter.
But the truth is that few people have a robust understanding of the term - or a meaningful sense of how their organization’s strategy translates to their everyday work.
And, while this all contributes to strategy’s mystique, understanding a few fundamentals of “strategy” can make your work more impactful and your time better spent.
In that spirit, let’s dive in.
What is it?
Strategy is an organization’s long-term direction (Whittington et al 2020). Numerous definitions exist; most allude to planning, perspective, and purpose:
Planning: where is your organization going? What’s it working towards?
Perspective: what’s the big picture? What’s happening in the broader industry, country, world? Don’t just look at your competition, cast a wider net and consider events beyond - both within and beyond the market. (Think about government policies, hiring landscapes, shifts in demand, and more.)
Purpose: why do you do what you do? Ask why again - and again - until you reach something of a North Star. What do you do better than anyone else? And for whom?
Answering these questions won’t net you the perfect strategy. But if you can’t answer them, your strategy might need some attention.
Why does it matter?
Organizations that fail often lack a clear strategy, lack a good strategy, or lack the foresight to consider culture and strategy together.
But a good, clear strategy that does factor in culture is a huge opportunity. To increase revenue, to motivate people, and to ensure your organization’s longer term success.
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Ellie Hearne helps leaders bring strategy and culture together. As founder of Pencil or Ink, she has worked with dozens of industry-leading companies, one or two government agencies, and a handful of non-profits. She teaches part-time on the Oxford Strategic Innovation Program and is Treasurer of the University of St Andrews American Foundation. Ellie has been quoted in The New York Times and the Irish Times on workplace communications and in Business Insider and Nasdaq on entrepreneurship. She is also a parent, a dog person, and a half-hearted runner.