p.1 There are a variety of definitions of strategy. In my
firm, we define a strategy as a plan for getting from a point in the present to some point in the future in the face of uncertainty
and resistance. No decision can be made in the present that doesn't have its result in the future. But without
a future that involves some uncertainty and resistance, there is no need for a strategy. Without uncertainty and
resistance, there are no consequences related to turning right or turning left. Pushing hard or letting up. Consolidating
or divesting. Uncertainty and resistance separate strategy from mere action. Uncertainty and resistance suggest the
future is not passive. The future will not be fully predicted, and it may push back when it's pushed on. A strategy
is not a goal or an objective. Goals and objectives are end points, destinations or way points; a strategy is a plan
of action leading to some end point, destination, or way point...
Sustainability. A strategy has lasting power.
Its effects are sustained over a time horizon that is long relative to lesser initiatives...
Improved performance. Strategy creates significant value above
what existed before. No rational organization undertakes activities designed to diminish its position. A strategy
delivers leverage over uncertainty and resistance. A strategy delivers significant improvements in the key
indicators of success.
p.2 Focus. Strategy is focused. Of all the things
that could be done, some are more important and must be pursued even at the cost of compromising other, less important things.
A strategy targets action to the most important things. There are opportunity costs involved.
Importance. Strategy deals with the important.
Importance is, of course, a subjective notion. What is important in one situation may not be important in another.
And what one person regards as important, another may regard as trivial. You know it's a strategy if an argument can
be made that it is essential to sustainable success... Strategy is how you intend to win a war... It is not possible
to talk about strategy without using words like important, significant, and fundamental.
p.4 Some people have better developed strategic thinking skills
than others. The game of chess provides a good illustration. No doubt you can learn to become a better chess player.
But the vast majority of individuals will lose badly to a chess master. There are at least two reasons for this. One is that
the master's mind, through a quirk of nature, is better adapted for the strategic thinking involved in chess. The other reason
is that the chess master is a specialist. The master not only has a mental affinity for chess but is more experienced in chess.
Chess is at the center of his life. The master has practiced the way of chess through the many games played against well-matched
adversaries. He has studied the historic matches of other accomplished players.
p.4 Organizational success in a competitive environment is more complex
than chess.
p.4 Innovativeness. An ability to break away from current thinking
to embrace a new view is a hallmark of a strategist. Innovation is different from creativity. Innovation is applied
creativity.
p.5 Watchfulness and listening. Strategists tend to spend a high
percentage of their time with their mouths shut. Patterns, interplay, and trends are the stuff of strategy. These
are hard to see and hear without careful watching and listening... To enhance execution, the strategy should be articulated
with precision and in plain English.
