Strategy. Misunderstood, Misleading and Mistaken. A Take On What Strategy Is Not And 4 Definitions To It.

“We’re strategic.” Unlike… everybody else?

Being strategic doesn’t mean being smarter. Strategy is misunderstood, misleading and mistaken for most of the cases. For other times, some seem to know what strategy is when they see it. Yet they can’t describe or define it. 🚩🚩🚩

Let me share with you why.

Misunderstood

With tactics. As if the “strategy” you’re following doesn’t work out, you change it. A tactic sees the moment and acts and changes accordingly. It’s about Now and steering the boat to direct or correct course. Not Strategy.

Misleading

With copying what others have made turning your goal into something more “clever” and make you succeed right away. Not Strategy.

Mistaken

For a plan or “strategic planning”. A plan comes out of a strategy. A plan is a system or a set of actions, steps and details to operate to achieve a determined goal. It sees things at a granular level and provides scenarios and actions if/when these happen. Not Strategy.

Here are 4 takes on what strategy is:

Dushka Zapata

Strategy answers the question “Why?” “Why are we doing this, why do we think it’s a good idea?”

Tactics answer the question “How.” “How will we get this done,” “What are the actions needed” and “What will get executed⁠.”

Jonathan Stark

“Strategy is a concise high-level approach to achieving the objective by pitting strengths against weaknesses, usually in a surprising way.”

Marty Neumeier

“A long term approach to outmaneuver the competitors and conditions in your market.”

Rod Aparicio (Yup. My definition)

A mix of Stark’s and Neumeier’s:

“A concise high-level approach to achieving a desired objective by outmaneuvering.”

If you think it’s just semantics, we’ll dive into this tomorrow.

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