“However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results.”

- Winston Churchill

You know, Churchill was a well known strategist, but the quote above really says it all. The bottom line in any strategy is the result, plain and simple. 

With large financial sector bonuses, a roller coaster stock market and the word ’stimulus’ becoming kitchen table talk, it begs the question – What Is Strategy?

As a word it is actually very easy to define – It’s a plan.

Simple, right?

Not really, defining your strategy must take into account a number of elements to turn it from a “beautiful” paper based plan into something that actually drives results! If you believe the news, it really doesn’t matter what our ’strategy’ or plan is, we’re all in deep, deep trouble. I don’t believe it. So, let’s look at this loaded concept a little more closely and have the guts to ask the hard questions.

Consider this, I thought strategy was simple enough when planning a great family vacation. To be successful you need only plan where we’re going, ensure we have good accommodations, an idea of what to do while we’re there and sufficient funds to make it happen. Easy.

But as my own experience taking my family to sunny Corpus Christi, TX will demonstrate, it’s not always that easy.

What if the condo you booked misrepresented itself? What if the pool at the location is closed for the two weeks you’re there? What if you didn’t do the research to find out that the Gulf actually has 49 species of shark and stinging jellyfish … need I say more? It ended up being a great vacation, but not without some serious stress and shooting from the hip to make things work.

If the strategy behind a simple family vacation can pose these kind of issues, building a strategy that positions your organization for success is much more complex. Or is it?

Business people everywhere have been brainwashed to building strategic plans that, when completed, are capable of being a Harvard text book! 300-400 pages of intensive theory. But that’s not the worst part.

These large strategic binders typically get a spot on the shelf beside all of the other plans that never get executed, making them an exercise in time wasting and executive self-stroking. So how to you overcome this?

To start, keep it simple! Ask the questions that matter, especially the hard ones. Then put them in a format that makes execution the priority.

 What is really happening, today?

Ask the questions that look realistically at where the company is today and what has already happened around it that will define the future. Many of these insights are available for anyone willing to look critically at what’s going on around you.

• What is really happening with my customers? Which ones can I count on and which ones should I fire? Not all business is good business.
• What is happening with my employees? Who will carry us to the next level and who is riding the coat tails? Think the 80/20 rule – 80% of the work from 20% of the team.
• What is happening with our suppliers? Are they strategic partners or profit taking vendors? Build a fortress of partners around you.
• What is the response to my products or services? Have we build the best possible offer in our market or diluted ourselves trying to be everything to everyone?
• What is our current financial reality? Are we managing cash flow with absolute certainty?
• What other risks are out there that we need to look closer at to see? Open the kimono and see the dirty little secrets that can kill the plan.

The answers to these questions will start to give you foundation and let you ask the next questions with a base of knowledge in what your current reality is.

Starting with a great foundation allows you to bring it all together with confidence and build the plan that enables the first steps to get done, today. This is the big difference between the big strategic binder and the plan that actually delivers results!

I like the one-page plan concept, because the bottom line is, when its more complex then a page how many people actually do it? You have to have the guts to put down the actual actions and the accountability to make it happen. This means detail. This means names of people who are responsible. And, it means that the plan becomes a part of you’re everyday.

 So let me ask you, what do you have in place for your organization? Let me know with comments to this post and I’ll work through the planning process in the next post.

STRIDE is a company committed to providing outstanding solutions for the dynamic era companies do business in. If your organization needs better alignment in strategic direction, corporate and employee focus, time pressure and work/life balance—STRIDE has a solution for your dynamic era!