On Strategy

One of the most misused words being thrown around in the world of business these days must be “strategy.” Folks use the word seemingly for everything — from their “social media strategy,” their “customer engagement strategy” and “sales strategy” to, I kid you not, their “lunchtime employee food strategy.”

Make no mistake — a good and actual strategy is what sets a successful company apart from their competitors. Slapping the word on every action which looks a bit more deliberate than throwing spaghetti on the wall is not strategy though.

Michael Porter, the godfather of strategic thinking defined strategy as:

Strategy explains how an organization, faced with competition, will achieve superior performance.

I love this definition. What I love even more are leaders taking this definition and filling it with life: Thinking through and mapping out the option space, carefully assessing the options, planning for potential moves from their competition and then developing a clear, concise plan which gets their companies to “achieve superior performance.”

Take time away from the daily grind of your business and figure out how your company creates unique value. Superior products matter.

This post is part of the “The Heretic”, Pascal Finette’s insights into leadership in exponential times. For entrepreneurs, corporate irritants and change makers. Raw, unfiltered and opinionated — delivered straight to your inbox. You will like it. → https://theheretic.org