COMMON AND MAJOR MISTAKES IN STRATEGY

1. The most basic mistakes in having a cogent and executable strategy are
2. Too many strategies at the same time : Most companies don’t concentrate : they do not make clear choices and cannot resist doing many  things and sometimes go in opposing directions.
3. Not enough stress of targets and not enough stress of change The strategy document does not aim for enough change and says that whatever is being done is according to the strategy..
4. The strategy document is a mechanical set of decisive choices but does not say how it will all add up creating value and for whom. Most CEOs are happy to see new activities and changes accompanied by sales and profit projections without linking these activities to results. The way to link them is through value creation mechanism. Example : some large companies are  increasingly adopting a “strategy” called the matrix organization but it is not clear why such a structure will produce additional value for the company. Specifically someone needs to say 3 things (1) How it will add value to the customers (2) How will it fight with the competitors better (3) How will improve the company’s efficiency. The less clear these linkages, the less will the strategy work. 
5. Many strategies mistake ends for means. This is like hearing a university graduate say“I am going to be a billionaire by 40 by being better than anyone in business”. Very nice, but the real question is how. Examples : “We want to be number 1 in the market”, “we want to grow 50 per cent next year”, “we want to be the world’s pre-eminent institution”. But these are desires – or at most goals – they are not strategies ! Strategies means not only setting goals but also making choices how you will perform activities that are different than your competitors or/ and how you will perform these activities differently than your competitors.
6. The last common mistake observed is that the “strategy” remains only in the boardroom and on slides. The middle, junior and front ranked employees do not know it well enough to understand how they need to behave to help the company achieve the strategy. A good and simple test is to ask people “Specifically what steps is the company taking so that it progresses well”.