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If You Are 'Implementing' Your Strategy --
You Don't Have One.
by Dov Gordon
90% of
people believe they
are better looking and funnier than average. And more than 90% of executives
feel they are better than average strategists. Yet few truly understand
strategy and its role in growing a business.
"What
is the distinction between a
strategy and a plan?" This is not a quibble over semantics any more than it
would be to ask "What is the difference between a hammer and a screw driver?"
All are tools, and they will only work for you to the degree that you can
distinguish them.
Strategy is all about perception.
You have a Strategy only after you've answered these two questions in depth:
-
"Who precisely is my target market?" (Every organization has multiple
target markets, so list each one.)
-
"How does my target market need to perceive me, us, our organization in
order to want to do business with us?" (Answer separately for each
target market.)
A simple
example: "Our strategy is to be an accounting firm known for helping our
Fortune 1000 clients develop and execute powerful financial planning and
monitoring systems. Our clients then feel free to focus on implementing their
strategic plans.”
Once
your strategy is clear, it is time to create a plan.
A plan is nothing but a series of tactics -- things you do to create the right
perception in the minds of the right people, i.e., your strategic goals.
In our
example our goal might be to create a perception in the minds of Fortune 1000
CEO's that when working with our accounting firm they will not only get tax
advice and financial planning assistance, but we will also install sophisticated
financial systems that will free up their key people to focus on what they are
good at - growing their own business.
What can
we do on a tactical level to create this perception? The options are endless,
beginning with the quality of the work that you deliver and how you choose to
deliver it and extending to myriad common and uncommon marketing and sales
tactics. We need to choose the best tactics and form a plan.
It
should now be clear that you never implement a strategy -- you implement
tactics according to a plan that is built on a foundation of deep strategic
understanding.
This is
why if you are "implementing a strategy" you may not have one.
The Gordon Group's THOUGHT PROVOKER Questions:
The Cup of Coffee Exercise.
A client or customer of yours meets a friend for coffee. This friend is someone
you'd like as a customer. Somehow your organization comes up in the
conversation. What would the prospective customer have to hear in order to
decide to call you up as soon as he gets back to the office?
Hint:
It may not be what you want your client to say. It is what the
prospect needs to hear in order to want to do business with you!
Resource: This article skims
the surface. For a full picture, see our white paper "Spitting
In the Wind: A Single Obvious Insight to Focus and Sharpen Your Strategy."
DOV GORDON
helps senior executives make better, wiser decisions and quickly get things
done. He is sought after for his perspective and advice on formulating and
implementing strategy, developing an innovation culture and cultivating superior
team work. Dov can be reached via his websites
www.GordonGroupEC.com and
www.IsraeliCEO.com or via email at
dovgordon@gmail.com.
You may
republish and redistribute this article provided that you include (1) the full
article with the attribution at the end, (2) a link to
www.GordonGroupEC.com in the
attribution and (3) You must notify us
before you use this piece to confirm this is still available.
See our
recommended reading list at:
www.GordonGroupEC.com/books.html
Copyright 2005 - 2008 © by Dov Gordon. All rights reserved. |
