How to make your strategy last
When running a business, decisions and priorities can quickly tangle up like knots in a ball of string. Developing a strategy can prevent this from happening, giving you a clear path to achieve your objectives.
Keeping up with strategy
Whether you have worked on your own strategy, or engaged an external person to support, you have probably spent a significant amount of time researching, in meetings, time thinking in the shower, time organising information and insight into a well considered plan of execution.
Somehow, even after all this work, most of your decisions are still made on a whim and you rarely if ever come back to your document.
Why is it that your strategy didn’t make it to the real world?
And how do you ensure it survives the chaos of a building and running a business?
The power of strategy
A strategy is simply an informed way to win. It involves a whole lot of prodding, poking, thinking and nudging. Ultimately you'll land on some insights that form the foundation of your strategy.
Once you've developed a strategy, you'll move towards your objective in an informed way. Enabling you to better understand the relationship between what you do and the outcome it brings. With this understanding you’ll more comfortably test and try, bounce around and introduce new ideas.
Worked on a strategy but didn't see it through? It’s usually because of one of three things:
1) You worked on the strategy in isolation, 2) You set vague or hyper-aspirational goals using resources you don’t have or 3) You got caught up in the whirlwind of running a business and make too many decisions based on impulse.
How to make a strategy last (spoiler: it's the exact opposite of above)
Pressure test your ideas: When ideas live in your head only, it’s easy to be convinced by your own logic. So when you’re working through your strategy, say things out loud, sense check them with people who have a different perspective.
Balance your aspiration with feasibility: Be brutally honest about your resources. Set realistic goals based on what you have right now. You can always build a "If X happens, then we do Y" path later.
Create a one-question filter: Don’t let your strategy document go to waste. When you’re making decisions, writing briefs, or when a new opportunity pops up, ask yourself a question: "Will this move the brand in the right direction" or “is this aligned with our core values?”
And lastly... committing to a strategy doesn't mean locking yourself in a box.
Strategy is about making a choice (you explore valid paths, deliberately choose one of them). While your chosen direction stays firm, you can remain agile in your execution. The conditions in which you operate change all the time, economic shifts, new competitors, cultural change etc.
So: Your strategy gives you the discipline to stay on your chosen path, while leaving your day-to-day tactics flexible enough to navigate the bumps along the way.
