Why I Hate the Word "Strategy"

I'll say something that might be unpopular coming from a consultant:

𝗜’𝗺 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗮 𝗳𝗮𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗱 "𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝘆" — 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆, 𝗜 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗶𝘁.

Not because strategy doesn't matter — it does. But because in most organizations, "strategy" has become a way to sound important without saying anything actionable.

Leaders craft vision statements. Decks get built. Terms like "transformation," "alignment," and "efficiency" get thrown around in all-hands meetings. And then everyone goes back to their desks and asks the same question they were asking before:

𝘚𝘰... 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘰 𝘐 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘰 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘰𝘯 𝘔𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘺?

Here's what I've come to believe: 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝘆 𝗶𝘀 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗳𝘂𝗹 𝗮𝘀 𝗮 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗼𝗶𝗻𝘁. It tells us why we are doing what we are doing, but the real work — the stuff that actually moves things — happens in the sentence that follows.

"𝗢𝘂𝗿 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝘆 𝗶𝘀 𝗫, 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙚...:" 

— E.g., These three teams need to restructure by Q3. 

— E.g., This process needs an owner, a deadline, and a weekly check-in. 

— E.g., This initiative gets funded. These two don't.

The "therefore" is where strategy becomes real. It's where you find out whether the bold words in the deck can survive contact with actual organizational complexity — budgets, headcount, competing priorities, and people who weren't in the room when the strategy was decided.

In my experience, the gap between a good strategy and a good outcome isn't vision. It's the willingness to get specific about what needs to happen next, who owns it, and by when.

WHO. WHAT. WHEN.

Three words. No framework required.

#consulting #leadership #execution