Loud Thinking July 14, 2014 at 01:11PM
Avoid These Common Strategic Planning Activities
When it comes to setting strategy, most companies do three things that are useless. These exercises may be familiar and reassuring, but you should not:
Wait until the annual strategy review to revisit your strategy. Competitors don’t wait a year to attack, customers don’t wait to shift their preferences, and new technology doesn’t wait to change the game. Monitor the marketplace continuously, and keep your strategy choices aligned with it.
Put together a SWOT analysis to kick off the process. There is no such thing as a generic strength, weakness, opportunity, or threat. A strength is only a strength in specific contexts. Rather than trying to analyze these in advance, first figure out where you want to play and how you’ll win.
Worry about a perfect mission statement right now. You can’t finalize your statement without choosing where to play and how to win. Start with a draft that you can revisit.
Adapted by HBR from “ Three Quick Ways to Improve Your Strategy-Making” by Roger Martin.
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