I've come to realize that true strategists are like unicorns. Everyone else who calls themselves one (a strategist) is a pink elephant, drunk on their own illusions of strategy. Let's face it, strategy is 10 percent talent and 90 percent disciplined work. Most people don't want to do the hard work that is strategy because it is not sexy and is very often repetitive.
How do you know if you're a unicorn or a pink elephant? First, let's be clear on what strategy is. Strategy is not just a good idea. A good or great strategy has a good idea, but it takes more than an idea to make a strategy. Strategy is not a timeline. A good strategy always includes a timeline, even if that strategy is "do x forever until we tell you to stop". But even an idea and a timeline together does not make a strategy. Shopping for strategy ingredients? Don't forget to pick up all the following:
Good ideas fail many times because there was a lack of communication around the idea. Unless you're a powerful dictator with nuclear weapons, you may need to tell people your idea more than once. You need to be able to sell to and tell people many, many times.
When you find yourself a unicorn, the sane people in the room that realize it are like thirsty animals at the watering hole. All of us who haven't had our brains altered love a good strategy. Some of us will even settle for a lackluster strategy, as long as there is one.
You know all that communication mentioned above in the ingredients list? That's mostly for you, unicorn. Because the worst thing you can do is create a great strategy and decide you are not subject to it. (That's a recipe for upheaval and confusion, which takes far less ingredients to balloon out of size in no time). That's when you look down at your hand and realize its fat, stubby and pink, and your nose is long and swinging in front of you.
How do you know if you're a unicorn or a pink elephant? First, let's be clear on what strategy is. Strategy is not just a good idea. A good or great strategy has a good idea, but it takes more than an idea to make a strategy. Strategy is not a timeline. A good strategy always includes a timeline, even if that strategy is "do x forever until we tell you to stop". But even an idea and a timeline together does not make a strategy. Shopping for strategy ingredients? Don't forget to pick up all the following:
- An idea (new or used)
- Someone who will be opposed to the idea and be willing to tell you why
- Someone who will love the idea and be able to tell you why
- A way to communicate the idea
- Another way to communicate the idea
- A calendar to mark how many times the idea is communicated and re communicated to fruition
- People to execute and enforce the idea
- More communication than you ever thought necessary to fuel adoption and maintenance of the idea
Good ideas fail many times because there was a lack of communication around the idea. Unless you're a powerful dictator with nuclear weapons, you may need to tell people your idea more than once. You need to be able to sell to and tell people many, many times.
When you find yourself a unicorn, the sane people in the room that realize it are like thirsty animals at the watering hole. All of us who haven't had our brains altered love a good strategy. Some of us will even settle for a lackluster strategy, as long as there is one.
You know all that communication mentioned above in the ingredients list? That's mostly for you, unicorn. Because the worst thing you can do is create a great strategy and decide you are not subject to it. (That's a recipe for upheaval and confusion, which takes far less ingredients to balloon out of size in no time). That's when you look down at your hand and realize its fat, stubby and pink, and your nose is long and swinging in front of you.
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