Strategy is often misunderstood and misused.
The word ‘strategy’, in my opinion, is one of the most misused words in modern business, barring synergy, of course. Then there is the word tactics, again, misused, but not as often as its cousin strategy. I have found in my career that these two words are not just misused, but just as often transposed. I’d like to share with you the benefit of using these words and functions correctly to be more productive in your work.
“Strategy is a set of choices used to achieve an overall objective whereas tactics are the specific actions used when applying those strategic choices.”
I love this simple explanation because it quickly sums up how we should see the relationship between these two oft misused concepts, and change our minds in how we think about problems we are trying to solve. Let's repaste the quote with my own interjections;
“Strategy is a set of choices used to define/determine the overall objective(why are we doing this) whereas tactics are the specific actions or tasks (how, what, when) we will employ when applying those strategic choices.”
Simply stated;
Strategy = Why, and a little What
Tactics = More what, some When and How
1. We should clearly define WHY we are doing something and WHY it’s important
2. Then determine HOW, these are tactics designed to move your business, or organization in that direction
Our first step should be defining why, because without clearly defining why, your why, and someone else's why WILL differ. If you can’t clearly state WHY you are doing something then you will always question what you are doing and if it's the right thing [to do]. Think of it like this, your Strategy is “Go To Disney World” and your tactics are the road trip. To flip the strategy to a why, “we want to go to visit Disney World", and our tactics include getting there by taking a road trip. If your strategy is clearly defined, it’s easy to determine which direction to head in the car, and plan the other details required for a successful road trip. Otherwise if your tactics come first, you’re in the car, headed up the road, and you have no idea where you are going.
Let me wrap with an anecdotal challenge.
In your next meeting or collaborative gathering, try and analyze all the ideas and thoughts sweeping across the table and simply label them, in your mind, with WHY, or HOW. Then reorganize them based and determine if the tactics (hows) are coming before the strategy and if “the cart is coming before the horse”.