Seven Myths About Strategy to Avoid

In parts one, two, and three of this series, I laid the foundation for the series and discussed two sources of confusion about the definition of a strategy, seven signs to look for to know if the lack of a common definition of a strategy in your organization, and where a strategy fits within an organization's agenda and the differences between strategies and tactics. In part four, I'll discuss seven myths about a strategy to avoid.

If you’re thinking about creating a definition of strategy and refining your strategy development process as a result for your organization, do not fall prey to these seven myths:

Myth #1: A strategy is more likely to be achieved if it gets buy-in from key individuals in the organization.

Fact: Buy-in is not the same thing as commitment. Buy-in is in the head. Commitment is in the heart. Just because everyone either nods their head or verbalizes their agreement doesn’t mean that they are committed to a strategy’s success. Without commitment (i.e., a fully resolved dedication to do whatever is necessary to see it come to pass), a strategy’s success is always in jeopardy.

Myth #2: You should only focus on realistic strategies.

Fact: Having a so-called “realistic” strategy does not ensure success. Many well-known companies that no longer exist had realistic yet ineffective strategies. The strategies supporting Ray Anderson’s Mission Zero initiative at Interface Carpets are a great example of unrealistic strategies. Even key employees at Interface initially thought the strategies were impossible. Yet, they succeeded. I encourage you to read more about Ray Anderson and his Mission Zero journey.

Myth #3: There is a correlation between the time spent planning and the results.

Fact: Many believe it takes “quality” time to produce an effective strategy. There is no hard-and-fast rule about how much time you should spend developing a strategy. The amount of time it takes to create an actionable strategy depends on the framework and process you follow, how much preparation has been done before the planning meeting, the planning team’s experience and skill with developing strategy, the complexity of the objective, the time allotted to achieve the objective, the commitment and resolve of the team to achieve the objective and the commitment and resolve of the team to use a framework to develop the strategy.

Myth #4: Once you have planned a strategy, stick with it.

Fact: No strategy should be written in stone. While a strategy should never be changed on a whim, it is important to remember that a strategy represents your best thinking with the information you had when you developed it. Therefore, as new information and new experiences inform your thinking, your strategies should be refined accordingly. This is one reason why I encourage all of my clients to have a rigorous strategy refinement process.

Myth #5: You should not develop a strategy until you’ve completed an exhaustive analysis of your market.

Fact: There is no such thing as exhaustive research or analysis. Effective research and analysis is an ongoing effort, which is one reason why strategic planning is an ongoing process. No matter how much research you do, there is always information you haven’t found or considered. While you were analyzing what you uncovered, new information was most likely being created. That’s why waiting until you have found or learned everything there is to know about a subject or situation would leave you with no time to develop or execute the strategy.

Myth #6: Spending significant time on strategy isn’t that helpful until your business reaches a specific size since it isn’t referred to daily.

Fact: Having an effective strategy that is documented is important no matter the stage of your business. Michael Porter addressed this point best when he said, “The company without a strategy is willing to try anything.” So, yes, certain aspects of a strategy are not referenced daily. However, a strategy is meant to guide day-to-day activities (i.e., the to-do list). In this way, a strategy is referred to daily, albeit not directly.

Myth #7: You don’t need help from the outside to develop your strategy.

Fact: You can not be a highly effective facilitator and participant at the same time. The objectivity and opportunity to observe all aspects of the process and engage all participants like a facilitator is compromised when you are the participant. The opportunity to focus and be fully immersed in the activities to think of effective solutions like a participant is compromised when you are the facilitator. In this way, having an objective, skilled and experienced facilitator with a vetted process will always add value to the strategy development process. With this understanding, it’s not a question of whether you need help. The real question is whether the investment in expert facilitation makes sense compared to the expected return on the strategy’s investment.

1. What traces of the above myths have you seen at work in your organization?
2. Which of the seven myths above is the most pervasive in your organization, and what is the specific evidence that leads you to believe that it is the most pervasive?
3. How effective is your current process for identifying and validating (or invalidating) your and/or your team’s beliefs about strategy?
4. What additional myths beyond the seven that are listed may be at work in your organization?

In part 5 of this series, I'll provide suggested next steps for putting the information in this series into practice. Until then...

Sherrin Ross Ingram is the Chief Executive Officer of the International Center for Strategic Planning, a management consulting firm specializing in scaling for aggressive growth companies. She oversees the development and support of strategic initiatives for client companies and is a trusted advisor and coach to growth-focused CEOs and leadership teams. She is also an Independent Corporate Board Director, an attorney, best-selling author, and a Master Strategic Planning Facilitator for companies in need of a proven process for updating strategic plans, developing new strategies to leverage new opportunities, or restructuring to increase competitive advantage. Learn more about her work at http://www.sherrin.com.

The full article first appeared on the Sherrin's blog at https://www.sherrin.com/definition-of-strategy