There are many myths about what makes a strategy and it’s role in dealing with complex (and non-complex) situations. Understanding strategy is how we navigate and journey through complexity; thus, it’s important to look at what it is and isn’t.
To begin our series on strategic design and leadership in complex times, I referred to the image of sailing as a metaphor. Sailing involves coordination, attention to conditions (that are rapidly changing), an ability to adapt and modify multiple plans at the same time, and yet is focused on getting people to a destination — even if that destination is just returning to port after a day out with friends.
What Strategy Is and Is Not
To understand what strategy is, it’s helpful to examine what it is not and no better book expresses this than “I Have a Strategy (No, You Don’t): The Illustrated Guide to Strategy” written by Howell J. Malham Jr. I’ve come back to this book many times; it’s also among my most recommended reference books.
It — like strategic design (which is designing and implementing strategy for impact) — is unconventional, but deeply practical. The book is not about complexity or adaptive ways of doing strategy, but on the fundamentals of what strategy is and does in the first place. It’s for that reason that I wanted to start our discussion there.
The central idea is that many people who say they have a strategy actually don’t. Instead, they often confuse it with goals, tactics, objectives, or mission statements. The book argues that strategy is distinct and essential and walks through, in an illustrated and lighthearted way, what strategy actually is.
The reason so many people struggle with strategy is partly because what is framed as strategy is inaccurate or incomplete. Maltham’s book is a winding story of two characters that discuss strategy with one using language associated with popular discourse (that is largely wrong or misleading) and the other offering wise reflection on what strategy actually is and what it looks like in practice. The key takeaways for the reader are this:
Strategy is Not a Goal
Goals are what you want to achieve, strategy is how you’re going to achieve it. People often conflate goals and strategies. The book emphasizes that strategy is a plan of action that connects your present state to a desired future. It’s for this reason that, when I’ll be speaking about strategy, I’ll refer to using a strategic design approach which has an explicit emphasis on foresight and futures.
Strategy is Not a Mission
Mission is your purpose; strategy is your plan. A mission tells people why you exist; strategy tells people how you’ll succeed given your circumstances.
Strategy is Not a Vision
Vision is your aspiration; strategy is the path to get there. Vision sets direction, but without a strategy, you’re just dreaming. A vision also has to be visible to others to avoid remaining a dream. Strategic design is one of ways in which visions are shaped with the strategies to realize them in practice. Strategy leader Roger Martin often speaks about strategic intent and setting your winning aspiration within the “game” you’re playing.
Strategy is Not Tactics
Tactics are the actions you take; strategy determines which tactics you choose and why. Tactics are short-term moves, but strategy provides the logic for why you choose certain moves over others.
Good Strategy is About Choice
Strategy involves trade-offs. A good strategy involves making difficult decisions—about what not to do as much as what to pursue. It requires prioritization and coherence. Coherence is also the central requirement for planning and strategy within complexity. Strategic design involves creating coherence in your actions, tactics, values, and systems.
Strategic Thinking Is a Skill
It can be taught, learned, and practiced. Strategic thinking, like many thinking skills, can be taught and nurtured. Just as we might create a culture of critical thinking and inquiry, strategic thinking is a habit of mind that is developed as part of an organizational culture. It’s why strategic design focuses not only on strategy, but the conditions and systems that influence how strategic thinking is nurtured and enacted. That’s one of the central features for why I’m emphasizing strategic design, not just strategy.
How to think and act strategically
The first question to ask is: “Do we have a strategy—or just a collection of goals and tactics?”
Next, examine what you’ve got. Where are you starting from? What is your baseline? A good strategy aligns with your context, resources, and desired outcomes.
Communication of strategy is as important as its content; everyone in the organization should understand it.
Strategy should evolve with new insights, not remain static.
Lastly, if you can’t explain your strategy simply, you probably don’t have one.
Using the word “strategy” doesn’t mean you have one. Malham’s book humorously reveals how often people use “strategic” language as a way to sound clever or smart, rather than to clarify their actual plans.
When the path ahead is uncertain, strategy becomes less of a plan and more of a practice.
In complexity, the smartest move isn’t about always knowing what to do ahead of time — it’s knowing how to keep learning, adjusting, and aligning action with intent. A strategy — strategically designed — can help you to do that.
If you’re looking to design strategy for your organization and need some help setting it up or developing it with you, let’s talk.
Comments are closed.