Strategy Doesn't Shout

The purpose of your Strategy is to achieve a competitive advantage. Have you ever thought about the idea that the simple act of reviewing your strategy could in itself confer competitive advantage? Most people think short-term, which is the enemy of strategy. "Last year, plus a bit" isn't a strategy. To work on your strategy requires taking time out from "business as usual" to review your position in the market, even if all seems to be going smoothly. Competitive advantage evaporates over time. Suddenly you find that a competitor has changed the game, or that customer demand has moved in a different direction. For example Blackberry has discovered that it is losing its customers to the Apple i-phone. It didn't really happen suddenly, but they hadn't noticed what was going on. Reacting to the actions of a competitor does not produce good strategy, because it allows your competitor to set the agenda, instead of competing on your own terms. Reviewing your strategy means making a decision to spend time on something that isn't currently causing a problem. The willingness to do this could become a source of competitive advantage. Strategy is never urgent until there is a crisis, and then suddenly it becomes a matter of survival. Much of our time at work is taken up with things that shout for our attention, even if they are comparatively unimportant. Steven Covey, in his book "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, says that to get ahead, we need to make time for the things that are "non-urgent" but "important". Strategy is one of those things. Covey writes "We react to urgent matters. Important matters that are not urgent require more initiative, more proactivity. We must act to seize opportunity, to make things happen. If we don't … have a clear idea of what is important, of the results we desire in our lives, we are easily diverted into responding to the urgent. Covey tells a story about a professor who fills a big jar, first with rocks, then with gravel, then with sand and finally with water. At each stage, he asks the students "Is the jar full?" At the end of the demonstration, he asks the students "What is the point of this illustration?" One student responded, "No matter how full your schedule is, if you try really hard, you can always fit some more things into it!" The professor said "No, the point is that if you don't put the big rocks in first, you'll never get them in at all." Strategy is one of those "big rocks" - it sets the criteria for all your business decisions. It doesn't shout for attention - you have to make time for it.