They are conceived, pass through infancy and adolescence into maturity and gradually decay to their death, becoming the foundation for the next strategy cycle. Although all strategies have life cycles, their duration varies by company and by industry. In hi-tech, a strategy life cycle can last as little as a few months. In oil or steel, a strategy can last for decades. A key challenge for any company is to migrate to a new strategy before the old one is completely dead.
New strategies take time to develop.
You don't just flip a switch and turn them on. And dead strategies have less to offer in the way of transferable skills and assets than mature ones. It's easier to leverage a successful brand than to reawaken a dead one. Most companies have no idea where they are in their strategy life cycle. They may know if their market is mature, but they don't know if they've got a few months, a few years or a few decades left before someone else comes along with a better mousetrap.