Everything you already knew about strategy but were afraid to implement

Simplifying Strategy.

The airport bookstore is filled with books telling you how to achieve success in business.  The one conclusion they all seem to support is that writing a book on business success is one way to do it.  It seems if you find a different way to look at some aspect of strategy, give it a clever name, and have a well-designed book cover, you will have an instant following.  Everyone, it seems, is looking for the next big thing to achieve a competitive advantage. The reality is, in my opinion, it is a lot easier to write about strategy than to formulate and implement it.

Sometimes I think some of the travelers pulling out their credit cards in the airport bookstore would be better off giving their money to a television preacher with big hair.  Or that Guthy Renker ape of a guy with big teeth.  Not that most of these books don’t impart a piece of wisdom or offer an effective tool or two.  But for my money, no one has published a  meaningful contribution to strategic thinking since Michael Porter. The reality is that there is no magic elixir.  Strategy doesn’t have to be complicated, but formulating and sticking to a strategy can be hard work. 

In simple terms, strategy should be about focusing all resources and aligning all activities to achieve a competitive advantage.  Unfortunately, firms typically make the following mistakes:

• ·         They confuse operational efficiency and performance improvement with strategy;
• ·         They confuse data analysis and planning with strategy formulation;
• ·         They emulate their competitors instead of trying to outwit them in the marketplace (i.e. benchmarking);
• ·         They follow initial success with exuberant expansion – usually including acquisitions – and in doing so, sometimes diffuse and weaken the core strategy;
• ·         They mistake capabilities for core competencies;
• ·         They either leave strategic planning in the board room or they ignore it and focus on implementation; few companies can marry strategy formulation and competitive experience correctly.

So what’s the magic elixir?

Strategy formulation is a unique undertaking for every company and every situation. But in the end, it should meet the following tests:

1. ·         It should result in a way of going to market that is distinctly different from competitors;
2. ·         It should be centered around a core value proposition that permeates every product  and service offering;
3. ·         All resources and activities of the organization should be employed with the purpose of reinforcing the strategy and thereby enhancing the competitive advantage;
4. ·         It should be grounded in market and competitive analysis that ensures a sustainable demand for the core offering;
5. ·          It should be reflected in a business model that links the value created by the core strategy to the value captured in the market place;
6. ·        It should be a  flexible, living instrument, refined continuously based market experience; but have a constant core that serves as the center of gravity;
7. ·         It should set the boundaries for what you do and DON”T DO and be followed with discipline.

Hey that’s seven.  Maybe there’s a book title in there somewhere. How about “the seven things you already knew about strategy but didn’t have the conviction to follow?”


Mark Towery
Managing Director
Geo Strategy Partners
The Leading Business-to-Business/Industrial Market Research and Strategy Firm