Keep Strategy Simple: A Business Perspective

One of the most profound discussions I’ve come across on business strategy comes from the Harvard Business Review (HBR), where a commenter noted: “Unfortunately, many of the strategic plans we see are no more than a mish-mash collage of ‘individual level’ rush-to-do’s, often missing out on an ‘organization-level’ cohesive and thought-through design intent.”

This sentiment hits on a critical challenge for businesses today: Where does strategy-making end and execution begin? Many companies blur the lines, creating strategic plans where they aren’t needed and failing to develop a coherent strategy at the business level where it truly matters.

At The Flock, we’ve learned that simplicity is the key to an effective strategy. The quote from Steve Jobs rings true: “Simple can be harder than complex.” It takes deliberate effort to cut through the noise and craft a clear, easy-to-understand strategy that guides every department and every decision. When you can distill your strategy to its essentials, you provide your team with the clarity they need to execute efficiently.

This article at HBR teaches us that strategies should be confined to the business level, not fragmented into department-level “strategic plans” like Marketing, HR, or IT. These plans are often just lists of actions, which belong to operational execution, not strategy. At The Flock, our core strategy is simple: provide on-demand tech talent and offer elastic hiring solutions that empower businesses to scale. This central idea informs all of our operations and allows our team to act with focus and precision.

By clearly articulating the company’s positioning—whether it's about product quality, customer service, or in our case, talent flexibility—you set the foundation for operational planning. It’s about aligning the entire organization around a unified strategic vision, not confusing strategy with individual department tasks.

As HBR emphasizes, the language we use shapes our thinking. Start by rethinking terms like "HR strategy" or "Marketing strategy" and replace them with more outward-looking terms like "Employee strategy" or "Customer strategy." It shifts the focus from internal activities to the stakeholders that matter most.

In a fast-growing company, having a simple, outward-focused strategy has allowed us to stay agile, meet client needs, and keep scaling. It’s a principle that applies whether you're a startup or an established business: Keep strategy simple, and let execution follow naturally.