Category: Strategy

Recognising Good and Bad Strategies – Part 5

Coherent action is the third and maybe most important element of a good strategy. Unfortunately, many leadership teams, when then engage in a strategy process, call the strategic objectives “the strategy” and stop there. This is a huge mistake, as the kernel of a good strategy must contain action. A strategy without action is like a knife that is not sharpened: it looks like something useful, but it is not.

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Recognising Good and Bad Strategies – Part 2

A bad strategy is not simply the absence of a good strategy, but rather a result of misconceptions and management deficits. The four characteristics of bad strategies are (1) Fluff – a form of gobbledygook that poses as a strategic concept. (2) lack of reference to the challenges (3) confusion of objectives with the strategy and (4) wrong strategic objectives.

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Recognising Good and Bad Strategies – Part 1

A good strategy contains at least three elements: 1) diagnosis, 2) guiding policy and 3) coherent action. This is this the KERNEL of a good strategy. Just formulating revenue, profit or market share objectives alone don’t make a strategy. Neither is something by default strategic because it is general, high-level or happens to have been decided at C-level

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Recognising Good and Bad Strategies – Part 5

Coherent action is the third and maybe most important element of a good strategy. Unfortunately, many leadership teams, when then engage in a strategy process, call the strategic objectives “the strategy” and stop there. This is a huge mistake, as the kernel of a good strategy must contain action. A strategy without action is like a knife that is not sharpened: it looks like something useful, but it is not.

Read More »

Recognising Good and Bad Strategies – Part 2

A bad strategy is not simply the absence of a good strategy, but rather a result of misconceptions and management deficits. The four characteristics of bad strategies are (1) Fluff – a form of gobbledygook that poses as a strategic concept. (2) lack of reference to the challenges (3) confusion of objectives with the strategy and (4) wrong strategic objectives.

Read More »

Recognising Good and Bad Strategies – Part 1

A good strategy contains at least three elements: 1) diagnosis, 2) guiding policy and 3) coherent action. This is this the KERNEL of a good strategy. Just formulating revenue, profit or market share objectives alone don’t make a strategy. Neither is something by default strategic because it is general, high-level or happens to have been decided at C-level

Read More »