The prevailing opinion in management circles today, and one which has been with us for some time, is that as long as you have superb execution, then strategy doesn’t matter all that much. Is that what you think?

Are you like one misguided pilot who, even though he was lost, was proud of the fact that he was going 500 mph?

Maybe you’ve even told your staff to stop thinking so much about what to do and to just get busy. That reflects this mindset. And it’s completely wrong.

You could be in a boat on the Niagara River thinking that you’re making tremendous progress because you’re moving so quickly. You might even be seeing some of the landmarks that other, slower travellers had to access on foot. The thing is that if you don’t have a plan for how to change the direction on that boat, then you’ll go over the falls.

The drop is 51 metres. That should give you just enough time to realise that executing a bad plan flawlessly can be fatal.

Of course, there’s another side to this. Spending all your time perfecting strategy could also spell disaster.

Have you ever seen someone who has analysis-paralysis? He / she can’t make a decision - about anything. All of the choices have equal weight. One option doesn’t stand out any more than any of the others. So instead of recognising the no matter which one is chosen, it probably doesn’t matter, nothing is picked, and so nothing gets done.

Whether you do nothing or press on - full steam ahead, ill-equipped and ill-prepared, you won’t succeed. You have to have a plan, and you have to implement it.

Can brilliant managers make bad strategy work?

That is the popular opinion today. If you’re a brilliant manager, then you can make bad strategy work. What utter rubbish.

You have to wonder if those who make such claims do so because they don’t know how to make it. That’s what often happens with those who are incompetent. If they can’t do something, then they belittle its importance. Think about it.

Can an excellent actor turn a poor script into an Academy Award Winning Best Picture? We know that that doesn’t happen. And how often have we seen films whose casts were filled with great actors, but which were dull and lacked pace? It’s nonsense to even suggest that bad strategy won’t negatively impact the outcomes of any organisation.

What is strategy?

So, what is this thing we call strategy? The truth is that we don’t know or, perhaps more precisely, we can’t agree. Some use the term synonymously with planning or strategic planning. Others refer to it as strategic management. Same difference.

It’s also been called a policy, a process, or even an outcome. Some years ago, a book was written called What is Strategy? And Does It Matter? The fact that there was wide disagreement on what it was and how to implement it was lost on the author.

It simply doesn’t matter what you call it. Whether you call one shopping and the other cooking, the fact is that you have to decide what you’re going to do, how you’re going to do it, and then get on with it. There’s simply no point in labouring over the definitions.

What’s the problem?

Notwithstanding the importance of doing so, planning isn’t the problem.

The biggest problem that managers have, and we’ve known this to be true for decades, is that, elaborate or simple, strategies are executed. Managers talk a good game, but when it comes right down to it, they don’t do what they say they will do. There are very good reasons why managers don’t execute their plans, but none of them change the fact that they remain on someone’s desk - yours, for instance.

Knowing what to do is essential, as we’ve seen. Having clarity for knowing how to do it is necessary, but if you don’t do it, then it doesn’t matter. You’re as effective as an armchair football coach. And what of those who don’t think that they need to plan?

What are they implementing? Thing is that “flying by the seat of your pants” or making-it-up-as-you-go-along is an expensive and time-consuming way to get what you want.

 Abraham Lincoln allegedly once said, “Give me six hours to chop down a tree, and I’ll spend the first four sharpening the axe”. That’s planning followed by execution. That’s also known as “working smarter”.

What’s working dumber? Chopping for six hours. Having no plan. Simply swinging an axe until you run out of time, energy, or both.

If you fail to plan, you plan to fail

It’s been wisely said that if you fail to plan, then you plan to fail. That’s because action without direction is drifting. It’s aimless. You know what that’s like. You open up your browser. Maybe you check the news or the sport. Then you see an intriguing link and click on it. An hour later you’re reading or watching something that had nothing to do with the reason why you went online in the first place.

How did that happen? You didn’t have a plan.

You should have decided in advance to visit that site and no others, or only to spend 10 minutes reading what was on that site, and then to shut down the computer, or close your browser and get back to what you should’ve been doing.

Because you had no plan, you drifted - first here, then there, then someplace else. It happens to all of us. But it proves the point. You have to plan what you’re going to do and then do it.

Don’t worry about it

Don’t waste your time and energy worrying about what strategy is. Equally, don’t throw the baby out with the bath water. Recognise instead, that you must have some kind of plan for what to do now, and in the days ahead. This will enable you to prepare for each task.

When you’ve planned enough to get started, then start.  Don’t wait for a perfect plan. It will never be perfect. It only needs to be good enough. Then put forth the effort to make it happen.

Planning isn’t carved in stone either. Revisit it frequently to make sure that what you’ve decided to do is bringing you closer to the goals that you set. If they are, then press harder; if not, then change them.

If you want to be more effective at implementing the right strategy – contact me here.