Thanks for sharing your thoughts on strategy Claire. Your post reminded me of a time I was about to create a video for something and I asked a film director friend about shooting it. He paused, sighed (dramatically) and said, "Filmmaking is so complicated." That was all I got from him. Not especially helpful, but again, it reminds me of your challenge with strategy. It's exceedingly difficult to nail the topic down. You quote liberally from Rumelt, and I like his approach but there is so much more. One aspect you didn't discuss in detail is the concept of value propositions (see for example Treacy and Wiresema's "The Discipline of Market Leaders"). Choosing a core VP is absolutely essential in developing a strategy. And then there is the concept of positioning, and on and on. In my work with clients, I try (emphasis on try) to simplify the concept by having them answer 4 questions: What is your driving force as an organization; what propels us forward (tech, products & services, customers & markets, ....), Who are your target customers, What do we sell, and how do we sell (value proposition). They sound simple, but if tackled with rigour and discipline are very difficult.
Hi Claire, great article! One question: you mention OKR at the beginning, saying we shouldn't jump straight to them when we are tasked with getting good at strategic thinking. Yet, I assume it's an effective framework once we identify the challenge, isn't it?
Thank you very much, that's a great post full of resources. I'll add one book that shows the difference between strategy and tactics, and how they both need each other : Sun Tzu, The Art of War. A 4000 years old book that is still relevant today (well, it didn't predict guerrilla, and several aspects of modern warfare, but the fundamentals are still there)
YES to rhythm! I never applied that concept to strategy but it's super smart and really resonates.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on strategy Claire. Your post reminded me of a time I was about to create a video for something and I asked a film director friend about shooting it. He paused, sighed (dramatically) and said, "Filmmaking is so complicated." That was all I got from him. Not especially helpful, but again, it reminds me of your challenge with strategy. It's exceedingly difficult to nail the topic down. You quote liberally from Rumelt, and I like his approach but there is so much more. One aspect you didn't discuss in detail is the concept of value propositions (see for example Treacy and Wiresema's "The Discipline of Market Leaders"). Choosing a core VP is absolutely essential in developing a strategy. And then there is the concept of positioning, and on and on. In my work with clients, I try (emphasis on try) to simplify the concept by having them answer 4 questions: What is your driving force as an organization; what propels us forward (tech, products & services, customers & markets, ....), Who are your target customers, What do we sell, and how do we sell (value proposition). They sound simple, but if tackled with rigour and discipline are very difficult.
Hi Claire, great article! One question: you mention OKR at the beginning, saying we shouldn't jump straight to them when we are tasked with getting good at strategic thinking. Yet, I assume it's an effective framework once we identify the challenge, isn't it?
Thank you very much, that's a great post full of resources. I'll add one book that shows the difference between strategy and tactics, and how they both need each other : Sun Tzu, The Art of War. A 4000 years old book that is still relevant today (well, it didn't predict guerrilla, and several aspects of modern warfare, but the fundamentals are still there)