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All men can see these tactics whereby I conquer, but what none can see is the strategy out of which victory is evolved. —Sun Tzu, 500 b.c.
Many people think strategy is some mysterious process, conducted behind closed doors by people who have special knowledge or, perhaps, special powers. People hear of shadowy strategic cabals that meet to create a mystical thing called "strategy."
In reality, strategy is not a mysterious process. It's not complicated. It's not mystical. It's not difficult to understand.
Strategy is simply "a plan for gaining an advantage." Nothing mysterious. No special knowledge. But in fact, many of the people who conduct the strategic process do it very poorly. A few do it really well. And almost everyone can improve on their ability to think strategically.
We use strategy in almost every facet of life, whether we know it or not. Strategy can be as complicated as, "We are a multinational organization preparing multifaceted strategy to create a sustainable advantage with global competitors," or as simple as, "I need a strategy so I don't step on the dog when I get out of bed" (an advantage for you and the dog).
Strategy is about planning for a sustainable, competitive advantage. It's your plan to provide value to your customers or clients. It's your plan to get and keep customers.
This book provides an overview of strategy for the beginning strategist. The book looks at the definition of terms, the history of strategy, schools of thought, tasks in the process of strategy, some basic core strategies, and a little about becoming a better strategic thinker. The intended reader is the person who is making their first foray into the world of strategy and strategic thinking. The hope is that we can get our arms around the basics of strategy and build a foundation for the field. When we have that basic foundation, then future learning will make more sense. |
