Strategy, Strategic Thinking and Strategic Planning

At some level most decision makers know that strategy is key to company, organisational, business and economic success. Many companies and organisations even do some kind of strategy work; with "strategic planning" being a major activity for most organisations. Many organisation do such strategic planning once a year, but others are now doing is as often a once every three months or four times a year. For Chief Executive Officers, a strategic plan is almost a mandatory requirement.

In spite of the efforts at strategy and strategic planning by the majority of companies, organisations, businesses and economies, there is growing concern that there is still a high level lack of understanding of what strategy really is; in other words strategy is still grossly misunderstood in the majority of organisations, companies, businesses and economies around the world. This view is shared by many of the world's leading authorities in #strategy and strategic thinking including Michael Porter, Richard Rumelt, Henry Mintzberg, Peter Drucker, Gary Hamel, C.K. Parahalad and others.

As a results of having poor or incomplete concepts strategy, strategic thinking and strategic planning, most of what is coming out of strategic planning sessions is not strategy but basic operational plans peppered with strategy jargon and buttressed by some kind of industry trends and statistics and basic operational budgets. With such "strategic" plans, organisations, companies, businesses and economies rarely achieve the goals that a real strategy is meant to produce and for commercial and profit making companies, it is not surprising that such companies and businesses do not change much in anything in between strategic plans.

The few companies, business, organisations and economies that are brilliant at strategy outperform their competition and counterparts exponential and continue to do so for many years. In fact, the understanding and use of strategy and strategic planning is so bad that a company or business just has to be slightly better than their business or economic competition to trounce them!

I facilitate strategic planning sessions and I meet many organisations and teams who in a similar situation. Before I start any work with a new organisation, I know ask for an old strategic plan to have an idea of what the organisation considers as a strategic plan. Then also before I start the actual work of facilitating a strategic planning session, I now make sure I have a session with the team to review their current theory and understanding of strategy and its use including what is strategic planning.

If you do not believe that strategy is being misused and underutilised, take the following test and share it with your top team.

1. Without referring to any source; (a)Define strategy in less than 200 words? (b) Define strategic thinking in less than 200 words? (c) Define strategic planning in less than 150 words
2. What do you think about strategy?
3. What do you think about strategic #thinking?
4. What do you think about strategic planning
5. Name your top four strategic thinkers in your organisation

Share and discuss your answers and see if you will all have the same thinking and knowledge about strategy, strategic thinking and strategic planning.

There are two main issues here?

1. Do you all have the same thinking and theory on strategy, strategic thinking and strategic planning.
2. How good and accurate is your theory on strategy, strategic thinking, strategic planning and use of strategy?

If you are typical organisation, company or economy, you will realise that you do not have the same thinking and theory of strategy, strategic thinking and strategic planning even if you consider yourself as a strategy team. This means that you are most likely not doing strategy well, if at all. Can you possibly contribute effectively to strategy work if you have different versions of what strategy means? Real teams are built on common language and common understanding!

When companies and businesses are doing well, they often to do not pay any heed to review their theory and practice of strategy, strategic thinking and strategic planning. They often think what they are doing is the best available approach and do not find any reason to review their knowledge and approach. Yet, by reviewing their theory and practice of strategy and by improving their strategic planning, companies and organisations dramatically shift their performance and results and bullet-proof themselves against any future situations that may require real strategy. Remember,

The more difficult a situation; the more you need strategy and strategic thinking.

Reviewing your theory and practice of strategy is actually one of the most strategic thinking thing that any leader can do.

If you continue doing the same things, the same way in the same environment, you will get the same old results.

Same old thinking leads to same old results.

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©Simon Bere, 2023