Learning and Doing Strategy

Early employees at a startup are responsible for defining the strategy for the company. Defining strategy and executing strategy are two sides of the same coin. If we have a strategy - and it needs to be implemented.

There is always a feedback loop - when it comes to defining strategy, it is influenced by the choices made before. When we implement strategy, we are also defining the future strategy. It is a continuous process - and the best way to teach strategic thinking is to involve others in the process.

To be competitive, we must either do different things or do things differently. We make our choices through strategic thinking, which further refines the process of the strategy itself. As we observe and analyse more strategic initiatives, anyone can craft a strategy.

There are two things to be wary of when it comes to strategy:

• Misalignment - Across departments, inter-departmental clarity on strategies is extremely important. If clarity is missing, the key initiatives will never take off. We need to over-communicate and reinforce the message if required.

• Drift - Don’t let the conversations drift from why we are doing these things to these are the things we are doing. Without clarity on why the opaque initiatives cause the main issues to be side-tracked.

The best way to coach strategy is as follows:

• Present the problem or opportunity

• Show you studied the potential solutions

• Make a recommendation

• Ask for validation

Reference: Learning and Doing Strategy, Andrew Bartholomew