I wrote about strategy and strategic planning while I was head of strategic planning and management services at Educational Testing Service. I wrote them as a way of clarifying my thinking and communicating my thoughts to others. I wrote this one to remind myself that strategy means so many things to so many people that it is difficult to have a meaningful conversation about strategy unless you define your terms. Most of all, I wrote it to remind myself that strategy is execution.
Strategy Is . . .
As plan , strategy relates how we intend realizing our goals. As perspective , strategy is part vantage point and part the view from that vantage point, particularly the way this view shapes and guides decisions and actions. Strategy is ubiquitous . It can be found at the highest levels of corporate, governmental, military and organizational endeavor and in small, medium and large units. It is used to define the basis for competition and it can give rise to collaboration and cooperation.