Start with a Strategy.

Strategy is an often misused and much misaligned term. By definition, a strategy is a plan of action designed to achieve a major aim or objective. Confusion can exist between what is strategy and what are tactics.

To share a short story as an example: Years ago I worked with a colleague who, at the time, had recently relocated from the UK to Sydney. One weekend he (and a buddy) decided to see what the nightlife was like in Brisbane. So, after a leisurely breakfast on that Saturday morning, they jumped into the car and headed north. They, of course, understood Europe. Not Australia. They didn’t realise that Brisbane is a 12-hour drive from Sydney if you don’t get lost (which they did). Around 7 pm, near Tamworth, they finally stopped to ask how much further they had to travel – and discovered they were only half-way. Come Monday morning – he sheepishly commented that ‘Australia is a really big country’.

My colleague had executed a tactic rather than develop a plan. Brisbane was not the primary aim, a night out meeting new people was the objective. Had they reached Brisbane, their next question would have been “where do we go now?” (And their answer, by the way, was ‘we were going to head to the main street’ – not that easy as Brisbane is a city, not a country town.) But, the boys had fun and discovered something new about Australia. So, all was good in the end. They had enjoyed a night out in Tamworth and did find a main street – just much, much quieter than, perhaps, they had hoped.

If they had been more strategic with their approach, they may have considered who (or the type of people) they would like to meet and where they congregate. Then, they may have assessed how best to get there, how long they would ideally need and determine the likely success of the effort, all before setting off.    

Not having a plan is ok when there is no responsibility or consequence. It’s much more challenging when you’re investing significantly and needing to deliver commercial outcomes. The main message from this – develop the strategy first, then consider the tactics that would best achieve the objectives.

So, as much as strategy outlines the plan of action, there are many other benefits. The first is clarity of purpose. Stakeholders are aligned up front – (any) debate happens before the activity commences. Next, it provides the context to curate tactics and creative work. How do you recognise genius or that big idea? The plan doesn’t have to be long, sharp and precise are better. One-page is all that is needed.