What is a strategy?

A strategy, most simply, is a plan of action designed to achieve a long-term or overall aim. It is the answer to the question ‘where are we going and why?’ Strategy differs from the everyday management processes and plans implemented as a procedure, policy or protocol that answers a different question: ‘how do we get things done around here?’ 

As Freedman puts it, a strategy is ‘about maintaining a balance between ends, ways, and means; about identifying objectives; and about the resources and methods available for meeting such objectives’ (Freedman, 2013). Technology is accessible to logic and planning, whereas it is always the human factor that provides the greatest variable, the most unknowable link in any chain of actions. Thus, a strategy is also much more than a plan. A plan supposes a sequence of events that allows the organisation to ‘move with confidence from one state of affairs to another’ (Freedman, 2013), but, as is often stated, no plan or project survives its first engagement with people fully intact. Alternatively, as heavyweight boxer Mike Tyson memorably put it, ‘everybody has plans until they get hit for the first time’ (Los Angeles Times, 1987). This quote also reflects the military origins of a lot of strategic rhetoric that pervades the literature.

The balance between ends (desirable outcomes), ways (plans for achieving outcomes) and means (what resources or inputs can we mobilise) is delicate, requiring a clear sense of the starting situation and the desired outcomes. A strategy usually assumes some challenges, conflict or contest – if the steps to the destination are clear, smooth, low risk and uncontested, then this is hardly worth being named a strategy. It is when there are conflicting needs, competition for scarce resources, contested digital spaces, intangible rewards or high risks that the most effective approach is a strategic one. 

A strategy should ideally be able to describe the desired end state, with a set of tangible outcomes delivered for a set expenditure of resources. Resources could be people, time, money, knowledge, infrastructure, materials and other assets that can be drawn on in order to function effectively and achieve set goals. As resources transform, through use in support of a strategy to produce benefit, they may be consumed or made unavailable. 

As such, strategic thinking has to deal with a large number of variables and usually addresses this through having:

• an overarching vision of the desired outcome based in shared values; 
• a clear set of ‘ground truths’ to establish an accepted group understanding of the reality of a given situation; 
• a set of resource-based plans aimed at transforming resource use into desired benefits. 

It makes sense to plan strategically, as risk from the inherent unpredictability of people, events, future technologies and the actions of competing forces lends management its drama and challenge. Conflicts may be mild (in macro terms), say between those in an organisation supposedly pursuing the same goals but with differing responsibilities or resources. In every circumstance, understanding the strategic context is a positive step towards clarifying goals and focusing on the benefits and values to be achieved.

The BVI Model is a similar response, seeking to bring clarity to the challenge of impact strategy. However, it is still rare that any project or activity of complexity will progress in an orderly fashion to achieve its goals set in advance. As the process evolves, a feedback loop of reappraisal and modifications should support the strategy and its ultimate objectives. All strategy has to be flexible and somewhat fluid, governed by the starting contexts that define what is achievable.

This post is an extract from my book: Delivering Impact with Digital Resources: planning strategy in the attention economy.

To find out more about the book, check out the BVIModel Website here.

Freedman, L. (2013) Strategy: a history. Oxford University Press.

Los Angeles Times (1987) James Has a Notion Where Blame Belongs, Los Angeles Times, 28 August. Available at: http://articles.latimes.com/1987-08-28/sports/sp-2763_1_blame-belongs.