05/05/2022

Strategy: Go Big or Go… Oh, Just Go Big

Four steps to impact at a scale that really matters

So. You want to save the world, and you've got an idea that you think could go big. Maybe you're just getting started, maybe you and your organization have been plugging away for a while. Either way, you can't just do stuff. You need a strategy.

Notice that I didn't say "you need a strategic plan." One of my all-time favorite SSIR articles is "The Strategic Plan Is Dead. Long Live Strategy." Read it, or at least ponder the title. The worst thing that ever happened to strategy was that it got jammed together with "the plan." As Mike Tyson helpfully pointed out, "Everybody has a plan until somebody punches them in the face." If your strategy is frozen in a plan, then when that plan goes to hell, your strategy goes with it.

Don't do it! Your strategy has got to be an independent, living thing that responds to changing circumstances and new information. It should be reviewed often, and the bias should be toward change. There should be a balance between brevity and detail, between simplicity and specificity. Above all, it should be in plain language. Jargon is sand in the gears of clear thinking.

Please select this link to read the complete article from SSIR.