Strategy: a simple definition
Strategy is your logic for success.
Strategy conjures many mental images. We imagine battles, generals and schemers. Board games like chess also come to mind. But what is strategy? Playing a computer game connected the dots for me, in a practical sense. Based on that, I’ve arrived at a concise definition of strategy.
Strategy — in theory
In an organizational context, strategy has become synonymous with many things. When we talk about strategy, a number of models like Porter’s 5 forces, SWOT, PESTLE and Roger Martin’s Strategy Cascade would spring to mind for some people. While these are time tested models, and relate to strategy for sure, we are still left wanting for precision.
To search for something more precise, we can look at some literal and popular definitions of strategy.
The Cambridge English dictionary defines strategy as:
- A detailed plan for achieving success in situations
- A way of doing, or dealing with, something
Being a dictionary definition, it shows how the term strategy is used everyday language. The issue with it is that it contains two parts — the two parts that are often conflated!
