Strategy is both the promise and the responsibility to make a difference to the life of a business.
It is important. A lot rests on its shoulders. And yet strategy starts with something that appears to be disarmingly simple.
At the core of any business there is a handful of words, usually a line or two, possibly a paragraph. These words are the heart of the matter. They tell everyone:
Which people will reach into their pockets and provide the all-important revenue to the business. In other words, the customers the company is going to matter to.
What meaningful and valuable difference the company is going to make to their lives. In other words, why the business is going to matter to them.
Getting the words written down will be no easy task. But when businesses do, they result in a clarity about three things:
- Why the business exists – why it matters – why it is valuable.
- What the business is trying to achieve – its reason for being – its sense of purpose.
- How the business will create its meaningful and valuable difference – its strategy.
To illustrate my point, I’d like to reference an example everyone can relate to.
Nike’s handful of words are:
The words are simple. They look easy. But you will know that they are the result of difficult choices Nike’s leaders wrestled with. But when the words finally settled and became obvious – “Hey, I could’ve written that” – they captured why Nike mattered.
For decades now, those words have explained to anyone who cared to listen, how and why Nike will be valuable. They have had the power to animate and guide everything Nike does.
And yet how many businesses actually have similar statements? Have they written them down? Does yours? If you find it surprisingly difficult, rest assured, you are not alone.
Businesses have a good idea of what they’re doing. They know what they’re making and who their customers are. But knowing why they matter digs deeper. It goes beyond the obvious. “To bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete in the world” is in a different league to a statement like, “To be the sports shoe of choice around the world.”
Writing the words. This is what I do. This is the sort of challenge I enjoy. Because it matters.