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Want to learn more? Take a deep dive…

Birshan, M., & Kar, J. (2012, July). Becoming more strategic: Three tips for any executive. McKinsey
Quarterly.
Clark, D. (2013, October 8). What’s keeping you from being strategic? Forbes.

Lester, A. (2012, December 7). More companies include retreat time to innovate. The Boston Globe.

10. Looking for some quick strategic wins? Play to your strengths. Executing on your strategy may
require that you and your team develop new skills. But that doesn’t mean you should discount the
strengths you already possess. Strategically smart organizations leverage their core capabilities. How
can you build upon what is already great to drive your strategy forward? How can your talents’ skills
be applied more broadly? How can existing infrastructure be advanced? What products or services
can be repurposed, redefined, or relaunched? Consider how you can take what’s solid and extend it
into new ventures. Disney’s core is family-friendly entertainment. Over time, they extended their core
beyond cartoons into theme parks, media, products, and retail, unlocking progressively more value.
Consider how to capitalize on less obvious assets too—your intellectual property, materials,
distribution networks, alliances.

11. Outdated strategic plan? Keep it fresh, fluid, and flexible. It used to be that strategic plans were
created once a year or every few years. They sat in binders on a shelf. Not today. To stay competitive
and nimble, the neat and tidy plans of the past have been transformed into a continuous strategic
planning process. Make sure to revisit your strategy frequently. Debate key topics when they arise
and focus on making sound decisions quickly. What are the mission-critical priorities? What key
metrics will inform and guide you? Whose interests come first—customers, shareholders,
employees? When difficult trade-offs surface, look to your core values to determine which way to go.
Develop simple rules of thumb to guide people to make on-the-spot decisions, ensuring they stay
aligned with the bigger picture.

12. Not sure how your role fits in? Identify a clear strategic line of sight. Understanding strategy is
important for people in every role. Learn about your organization’s strategy. What primary objectives
is it aiming toward? How does it plan to reach them? What critical capabilities and resources does the
organization need to succeed? Talk about how your department supports or drives the organization’s
strategy directly or indirectly. How do you create value? Serve customers? Contribute to growth or the
bottom line? Strengthen the brand? Support the community in which you operate? How do other
functions build on the work your group produces? Spend time connecting the dots, and you’ll have a
better sense of what to emphasize in your daily work. If you can’t demonstrate how a job aligns with
the strategy, why do you have it?

13. Get tongue-tied when talking strategy? Learn to speak the language of strategy. You may have
a knack for thinking strategically but not know how to express it very well. Strategy is an emerging
and ever-changing field. At any time, there are gurus who create new words and concepts to describe
it. If you don’t use these words, others may not perceive you as being strategic. Learn from the latest
experts. Watch their videos. Read their blogs and articles in the Harvard Business Review and similar
publications. Read case studies about strategy and find parallels between other organizations and
yours. Also pay attention to what your senior leaders are reading and talking about. Offer ideas on
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