What is Strategy?
In our work, we have found that, even for senior leaders, strategy can be an elusive and ill-defined concept. To address this, we developed an easy-to-understand framework applicable to everyone involved in the strategy development process. The framework was developed by synthesizing the actionable elements contained in leading strategy publications including A.G. Lafley’s “Playing to Win”, Robert Burgleman’s “Strategy is Destiny” and David Collis’/Michael Rukstad’s “Can you say what your strategy is?” as well as other methods and more than a decade of implementing, refining, and teaching the concepts by the practice.
Strategy is:
a set of choices
leading to coherent actions
to achieve your aspirations
Our framework defines strategy as “a set of choices leading to coherent actions that achieve our aspirations”. This definition emphasizes the concept of choice, which we found worth stressing, as we have seen many, even very senior leaders, approach strategy development as a linear planning exercise.
The framework is divided into three phases. The first phase defines the company's or individual’s aspiration considering changes in the world and their impact on the current strategy. The second phase creates multiple strategic options based on different beliefs about the future. Coaching is crucial in this phase to draw out diverse perspectives and tacit beliefs, exploring alternative options. The output of this phase is a set of options and beliefs, each viable to achieve the aspiration.
The third phase selects a single option for action by assessing each option for value to the firm and each belief for the probability of becoming true based on available data. Other options are not discarded, as they remain viable under different belief systems. Instead, a test plan is implemented as part of the execution plan to validate beliefs over time, allowing the team to pivot as learning occurs.
Our strategy framework informs all the work we do in coaching leaders and teams through developing strategies for their business and/or leadership development. You can learn more about the framework by reviewing the “Resources” section of this website.