A Bad Strategy is Superficial
· 2 min read
A bad strategy is formalism, characterized by four fundamental traits
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Empty rhetoric ==obfuscation== ==fluff== Strategy should not be a mere accumulation of grandiose terms.
- e.g. a major bank “Our fundamental strategy is one of customer-centric intermediation.” = “Our bank’s fundamental strategy is being a bank.”
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Failure to confront challenges
- If you fail to identify and analyze the obstacles, you don’t have a strategy. Instead, you have either a stretch goal, a budget, or a list of things you wish would happen.
- This reminds me that the choice of root level metrics must be very careful, ==If you can't measure it, you can't improve it==
- A positive example is DARPA.
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Mistaking goals for strategy
- e.g. a 20/20 goal - We will grow revenue by at least 20% each year. We will maintain a profit margin of at least 20%.
- Metrics are not strategy.
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Sub-goals that are irrelevant or unrealistic
- Goal is the overall objective, Objective is the sub-goal.
- Good strategy works by focusing energy and resources on one, or a very few, pivotal objectives whose accomplishment will lead to a cascade of favorable outcomes.
- What kind of sub-goals are bad sub-goals?
- Dog’s Dinner Objectives - putting everything together without distinction.
- Blue-Sky Objectives - unrealistic aspirations.