When is the last time you heard the word “strategy” or “strategic?” They are common words and largely misunderstood. While strategy is certainly important, it’s means more than just “long-term” or “impactful.”
I teach an introduction to strategy to 400+ sharp, ambitious business students each year. We read, discuss, debate dozens of companies, industries and unpack these 175 key questions. I was asked to put together a 1 hour video on some of the basics of strategy in 2019 and this is what I came up with.
What Do these icons mean?
It’s hard to explain anything simply, and “strategy” is no different. To help anchor the discussion, I’d like to offer you these 6 icons which represent many of the core concepts of strategy:
- Virtuous cycle: a set of activities, not just one thing, that gives a sustainable competitive advantage
- Choice: it requires trade-offs; you cannot be all things to all people; strategy = what you decide NOT to do
- Diminishing returns from best practices; yes, you need to be efficient (like everyone else), but that’s not enough
- Economic moats (preferably wide, and deep) which keeps others away from your profits (treasure)
- Strategy without implementation = just an idea; it requires commitment, execution, flexibility, process
- Corporate strategy = where to compete (e.g., geographically, value chain)
Thank you
Thanks for watching.
There is nothing basic about the basics! I love the simple relationships between the 6 visuals and their relevance to strategy in practical terms. Thank you for the fresh view…
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Great presentation and visuals . Thanks for coming up with these stuff.
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Really like the association of business growth and professional career development. Thank you for the video!
Thanks for watching. Your professional strategy may be the most important part.
Great webcast! Really insightfull. I do like how you explained ‘moat’ so many times. I guess seeing a moat in the US isn’t that common as it is in Europe.
Uh-mazing observation. Have not seen a moat in the US – ever. So true, so true.
John : Great job, as usual. In my former career ( I retired as the president of a large real estate services firm and am now a consultant, you have helped me tremendously, by the way) I used the concepts from Lafley’s book, which helped me to frame strategy with the team. Interestingly , Lafley was called back to P&G because they lost their way.
Here is my question, Given Andrew Carnegies comments, I am inclined to advise clients to have 2-3 Strategies at the most. Curious to hear your thoughts? Thank you. Fred.
Hello Fred, thanks for reading and the compliment. Overall, yes, fewer the better. On some level, a real estate holding company might have a corporate strategy (where to play – markets, asset types), a business unit strategy (development, financing, managing) which all work together. Sounds great. Keep going.
Hi John, thanks for the video. I really enjoyed thinking about leading vs. lagging indicators of success. What do you think of as key leading indicators? How about leading indicators for professional growth/strategy? Thanks!
Thanks for reading. Yes, super depends on the goal. That said, if we really just break it down into inputs / outputs. That’s helpful.
What things could you do. . .which would DEFINITELY contribute to outputs later? What are the ingredients?
With so many comments, I guess you should consider more webcasts. Great content as always.
PS: Are blogs dead/dying in 2021?
Charles, yes, videos work. Use them extensively at school, work. Will consider how to layer them into the blog. Thanks for reading, yes, 2021+ on its way.