Sometimes I don't see the big picture...

And when I do I end up costing myself time, money and opportunity. But I’m not alone…when visiting boards like this one I notice many others having the same problem. For the lack of any apparent strategy they fritter around with one project after another. You can tell there is no master plan involved because many of these projects are totally unrelated…there is a unifying theme tying the projects together. It leads me to believe that we’re much better ‘tacticians’ than we are ‘strategists’. I don’t think that comes as a shock to anyone reading this.

Let’s take a look at the difference between ‘strategy’ and ‘tactics’.

Here are non-military definitions:

Tactics-A procedure or set of maneuvers engaged in to achieve an end, an aim, or a goal.

Strategy-An elaborate and systematic plan of action.

Just for the sake of comparison let’s look at the military definitions also:

Tactics-The military science that deals with SECURING OBJECTIVES SET BY STRATEGY, especially the technique of deploying and directing of troops, ships, and aircraft in effective maneuvers against an enemy.

Strategy-The science of military command, or the science of PROJECTING campaigns and DIRECTING great military movements; generalship.

Still fuzzy? Let me give you a couple military examples.

At the beginning of the American Civil War, aging Union General Winfield Scott, put together a plan (named ‘Anaconda’) to damage the South’s ability to wage war. This plan (strategy) would call for a federal blockade of the entire Confederate coastline. Even today that would be an ambitious plan but in 1861, the possibility of doing something like this, given the then small size of the U.S. Navy, this goal was truly challenging…but Scott put the wheels in motion (tactics) to fulfill the plan. He knew it would take time…a great deal of it but it was a powerful way to strangle the South economically. Very little cotton and other products were able to be exported and very little in war material and supplies could be imported. The South’s ability to generate cash was severely curtailed. The passing of this strategy was not a ‘slam-dunk’…many people opposed it for various reasons but in the end it was one of the chief reasons why the North eventually won the war. Scott was strong enough not to deviate from his strategy even though his tactics probably had to be altered from time to time. The strategy was all-important…his tactics, much less so.

In the spring of 1864, U.S. Grant created a strategy to, in his mind, finish the war. He held a big view of things. He knew that to defeat the South that he had to think beyond the capabilities of one army. He needed to blend together the operations of four field armies spread over thousands of miles. Like Scott’s Anaconda plan, this was a monumental task for the time. Sometime just for grins look at the size of the eastern half of the country from Louisiana to the Atlantic Ocean. This is a huge landmass and couldn’t be controlled by just a single army, so Grant put together a plan utilizing four independent commands, each with specific goals. The commander of each army was relatively free to use whatever tactics where necessary to achieve the final goal. Things did not go smoothly. Armies failed in their short-term objectives and tactics needed to be changed. In May of 1864, the Army of the Potomac’s portion of the strategy required it to engage the Army of Northern Virginia under General Robert E. Lee. At first the Army of the Potomac used ‘sledge-hammer’ like blows to try to destroy Lee’s force. Grant kept urging forceful attacks but by the middle of June switched tactics that resulted in the siege of Lee’s army in Petersburg, Virginia and eventually the capture of the South’s main force. Now contrast this with what the Federal armies did in the spring of 1863…The Army of the Potomac was essentially operating on its own, without the benefit of any specific strategy other than ‘Trying to win the war’ which is like us saying our strategy is ‘Trying to make money’. Basically there was no strategy. The Union army skillfully maneuvered (even more so than what Grant would do the following year) against General Lee and his army, which resulted in a blood bath and retreat of the Union forces back to where they came. In 1864 Grant would do essentially the same thing but with the important difference that he continued to push Lee back (in the face of thousands of casualties) instead of retreating to craft a new set of tactics. Grant had a grand strategy in place where there was none in 1863. Now understand this, the Union tactics at the beginning of 1863 where possibly even better than what Grant would use in 1864 but the lack of overall strategy doomed the effort.

I ask you how often have your good ‘tactics’ been undermined by the lack of an overall ‘strategy’. Heck, mine have several times…maybe even beyond several. There have been times when I have leaped from project to project trying to find the one that ‘made money’ (my grand strategy). How foolish is that? I’m trying to reduce or eliminate this flaw. Why? Because it keeps me from achieving my ultimate goal (in simple terms) of having a successful direct marketing company. I’m sure there are many reading this that is suffering from the same thing. Like I, you’re a great ‘tactician’ but you’re a lousy ‘strategist’. Even the most business savvy people that visit and share on these boards are guilty of the same thing. They leap from project to project without the appearance of a common thread tying them together or they abandon one project for the next ‘project of the week’ at a moment’s notice.

You see its strategy that keeps us in line, which allows us to keep going when things are the most difficult. And no, this isn’t some sort of ‘rah-rah’ speech. Ben Suarez lost thousands before he found the right tactics that supported his strategy. So did Gary Halbert. So did Henry Ford. So did Edison. Without a clear strategy in mind, how can you even consider changing tactics? What do you measure those tactics against? Sales that week? This might be good in the short-term but it is no long-term answer. How many folks are willing to lose a few thousand dollars in order to accomplish their strategy? I’m willing to bet not many. But you know, looking back, I can see where my successful short tactics where much more meaningful when they supported my grand strategy as opposed to just sticking a few dollars in the bank. I read about people having some success with the tactics they are using but don’t seem to parlay that success into anything bigger…why not? My guess is a lack of overall strategy. Consequently my reverses where also less painful when a set of tactics, supported by a grand strategy, blew-up in my face as opposed to tactics that were not supporting a grand strategy.

Another way of telling if someone doesn’t have a strategy? They harp on the excuses. You know, “I’ve got kids and I can’t afford to do ‘x’ right now” or “I don’t have any time to pursue what I what”. I talk to these folks all the time…I read their comments on boards just like this. So instead of jumping into that next project, think about your strategy and how your tactics fit into that strategy.

I thank you for your time and input,

Mike Winicki

Great post, Mike! As a former naval officer, I appreciate your examples. And, the lack of strategy isn't limited to those of us with smaller businesses. I see it every day doing corporate consulting.

A good book that covers this area in a somewhat different manner is "Good to Great" by Collins. It documents the differences between 30 or so established companies (i.e. Ford, Gillette, GM, etc.) and details the reasons why some became "great" and some didn't.

Interesting reading and has principles applicable to all sizes of businesses.

Thanks again,

Bob

Hi Mike,

Thanks.... That was one of those posts which can cause you to rethink you're whole approach to everything!

I know about strategy.... But what your post made clear to me is that I'm not really applying what I know!

One thing which used to confuse me on this topic was what seems to be a difference between military and business strategy. In military strategy, you usually have a clear "enemy", and you also have to consider the physical environment and geography. For example, the fact that the Confederate South was reliant on its sea ports (a fact determined by geography), helped to determine General Winfield Scott's strategy.

In business, the main factors are your target market and your competitors. What do your target market want, and what are they getting already (and NOT yet getting) from your competitors? These factors will help determine your strategy....

Mike, how do you think we should go about creating a good strategy for our business? I've never seen it this way before, but after reading your post I realize a "business plan" is essentially an outline of a "business strategy"... I've created one business plan before, but it was for a business which was never created. (A friend and I entered a business plan competition with it.) I'm starting to think it's time to create another business plan in order to help organize a good strategy....

I'm keen to hear more of your thoughts on this, Mike, or anyone else...

- Dien

Dien -

One way to plan a strategy is to define your long term objectives and plan backwards to actions that should be taken today.

As Michael pointed out above, strategy is the big picture and tactics are the actions taken to achieve the big picture. Planning with the end in mind (to paraphrase Stephen Covey) allows you to mesh day-to-day tactics within the framework of your strategy.

A great example of this is given by Michael Gerber (author of the E-Myth series). He says the purpose of starting a business is to eventually sell it so you can get on with enjoying your life. Given that, you would develop an overall strategy to create a business that will be valued at some large figure at some designated future date, and one that will stand alone without your day-to-day involvement.

With that as a strategic plan, you could then develop the tactics (i.e., action steps) to develop the business to the end result at the desired time. Certainly, the tactics will change with market conditions, etc., but the strategic plan would remain relatively stable.

We used a similar process when I ran a division for a large corporation. Our strategic plan called for gaining computer services business with a majority of federal agencies in the US government by providing superior service and technology. Our tactics differed by agency and politics, but we never wavered from the strategic objective - to maximize our revenues by dominating the market.

It worked, as we made several hundred million in revenues in under two years, despite corporate pressure from above to cut corners for quicker cashflow, and severe political lobbying efforts from the competition.

Anyway, just my take on how to employ strategic planning in a meaningful way in any size business.

Regards,

Bob

Hi Bob,

> One way to plan a strategy is to define your
> long term objectives and plan backwards to
> actions that should be taken today.

Yes, that's a good technique.... Thanks. :)

Without a final goal, strategy and tactics are essentially useless....

This is true not only in business, but in military strategy too.

One of the pre-eminent military strategists of the 20th century, B. H. Liddell Hart, defined "strategy" as"the art of distributing and applying military means to fulfill the ends of policy".(From Liddell Hart's book, "Strategy".)

In other words, strategy is applied to attain some goal, but you have to have the goal (or "policy" as he put it) first before you can develop the strategy.... Which I think is also embedded in what you said, Bob.

(Maybe a definition of "business strategy" could be "the art of distributing and applying business assets and means to fulfill a pre-defined goal" - from adapting Liddell Hart's definition....)

> A great example of this is given by Michael
> Gerber (author of the E-Myth series). He
> says the purpose of starting a business is
> to eventually sell it so you can get on with
> enjoying your life. Given that, you would
> develop an overall strategy to create a
> business that will be valued at some large
> figure at some designated future date, and
> one that will stand alone without your
> day-to-day involvement.

Yes, this is good too! :)

If you don't want to be eternally "tied" to your business, you better have an "exit strategy" prepared - such as a way to sell the business....

> It worked, as we made several hundred
> million in revenues in under two years,
> despite corporate pressure from above to cut
> corners for quicker cashflow, and severe
> political lobbying efforts from the
> competition.

> Anyway, just my take on how to employ
> strategic planning in a meaningful way in
> any size business.

Thanks Bob... It's good to know that strategic planning really does work.... :)

- Dien

> Hi Mike,

> Thanks.... That was one of those posts which
> can cause you to rethink you're whole
> approach to everything!

> I know about strategy.... But what your post
> made clear to me is that I'm not really
> applying what I know!

> One thing which used to confuse me on this
> topic was what seems to be a difference
> between military and business strategy. In
> military strategy, you usually have a clear
> "enemy", and you also have to
> consider the physical environment and
> geography. For example, the fact that the
> Confederate South was reliant on its sea
> ports (a fact determined by geography),
> helped to determine General Winfield Scott's
> strategy.

> In business, the main factors are your
> target market and your competitors. What do
> your target market want, and what are they
> getting already (and NOT yet getting) from
> your competitors? These factors will help
> determine your strategy....

Dien,

A business plan is important. Some parts being more long-lasting than others. Business plans for the most part are out-of-date once you print it off. Why? Many of our assumptions turn out flawed (very quickly I might add), which can render the plan useless unless it is kept up to date and kept flexible. Most business plans don't take into account the many angles and turns our lives take.

I say this from experience...one of my jobs is to help businesses in my county create business plans to get access to government loans. And most plans I work on are horrible. They fall apart in a number of areas. Mostly, they lack long-term vision and they are full of unmeasurable statements like, "We know are business will succeed because we will service the customer better than the competition"--unmeasurable, unquantifiable. A business plan needs things that can be measured so you know if you're on the right track or not. Many people don't know how to do that or they don't want to look like they've made incorrect assumptions.

Another point on your post. You mention two important areas that do need extensive coverage in a business plan...the target market and your competitors. Both can be strategized for and tactics developed.

Competitors and the target market are two-legs of the stool...what about the third (which rarely gets accounted for in any business plan)...YOURSELF. This is where (in my opinion) many fall down on and causes their plan to fail. What steps are you going to take to put your plan into motion. How do you know if you are making good progress everyday or just wasting time? How are you going to ensure you own success? The 'tools' out there are many...

Visualization
Positive Thinking
NLP
Networking
7 Habits of Highly Suceessful Poeople
Psychocybernetics
Pictograms
Goal Setting
Structural Tension

How do you know which will work and which will not? How will you quantify your progress?

Personally I see more business plans (and businesses) fail due to the failing of the founders/owners to plan for 'themselves' rather than the business failing due to competitors and the target market. I think money can be made in virtually any business sector with good marketing techniques. Someone's business will fail and they will blame market conditions or competitors rather than blame their inability to strategize for themselves. You are a separate entity from your business and you need a plan for yourself as well as a plan for your business. And then once you have the plan(s) processes have to be put in place to measure the results. And then we make changes and remeasure. And so on and so on and so on...

Take care,

Mike Winicki

Hi Mike,

> A business plan needs things
> that can be measured so you know if you're
> on the right track or not. Many people don't
> know how to do that or they don't want to
> look like they've made incorrect
> assumptions.

This reminds me of the way many look at advertising... Many people DON'T want measurable advertising responses, because they sometimes prefer NOT to know if the ad is doing anything or not....

It's usually better though to make results as measureable as you can, so you know exactly what's working, and what isn't....

> Competitors and the target market are
> two-legs of the stool...what about the third
> (which rarely gets accounted for in any
> business plan)...YOURSELF. This is where (in
> my opinion) many fall down on and causes
> their plan to fail. What steps are you going
> to take to put your plan into motion. How do
> you know if you are making good progress
> everyday or just wasting time? How are you
> going to ensure you own success?

Thanks Mike, that's a great point! YOU are one component of your business, and you're right, it's just like another leg of the stool! (Without it, the stool will fall over....)

It's always so much easier to pin any blame on "the market" or on a terrible competitor, than to take responsibility yourself.... Of course, in some cases the market or the competition is to blame, but with good planning you should hopefully be able to avoid such situations.... :)

- Dien Rice

> It's always so much easier to pin any blame
> on "the market" or on a terrible
> competitor, than to take responsibility
> yourself.... Of course, in some cases the
> market or the competition is to blame, but
> with good planning you should hopefully be
> able to avoid such situations.... :)

In EVERY case of DotCom demise I've read about, the CEO blamed "Market Conditions."

It wasn't that they spent all their money on parties and mahogony furniture when MDF would have been fine - heck, one company even put in an indoor bowling lane - and so on, or that they wasted money on useless image advertising, or that their business model had them giving everything away and you can't make a profit if'n you never sell anything, or that people never actually wanted what these people were offering, or that they couldn't actually do their jobs.

It was always the "Market Conditions." Almost as if they expect us to believe their mis-management and wasteful and useless spending with a business model that gave things away instead of sold things, could actually work in some cases.

Anyway. About this competition thing... EVERY business who is trying to make a sale is your competition - do I spend $3,000 on a new computer, or a new plasma TV, or a new surround sound stereo, or getting my decking re-done or going to that seminar?

You aren't just competing with other businesses in the same industry or niche as you, you are competing with every other business.

Michael Ross.

> Hi Mike,

> Thanks.... That was one of those posts which
> can cause you to rethink you're whole
> approach to everything!

> I know about strategy.... But what your post
> made clear to me is that I'm not really
> applying what I know!

> One thing which used to confuse me on this
> topic was what seems to be a difference
> between military and business strategy. In
> military strategy, you usually have a clear
> "enemy", and you also have to
> consider the physical environment and
> geography. For example, the fact that the
> Confederate South was reliant on its sea
> ports (a fact determined by geography),
> helped to determine General Winfield Scott's
> strategy.

> In business, the main factors are your
> target market and your competitors. What do
> your target market want, and what are they
> getting already (and NOT yet getting) from
> your competitors? These factors will help
> determine your strategy....

> Mike, how do you think we should go about
> creating a good strategy for our business?
> I've never seen it this way before, but
> after reading your post I realize a
> "business plan" is essentially an
> outline of a "business
> strategy"... I've created one business
> plan before, but it was for a business which
> was never created. (A friend and I entered a
> business plan competition with it.) I'm
> starting to think it's time to create
> another business plan in order to help
> organize a good strategy....

> I'm keen to hear more of your thoughts on
> this, Mike, or anyone else...

> - Dien

To me that is where you want to start strategizing for your business. What is the purpose of the business?

Take care,

Mike W.

> To me that is where you want to start
> strategizing for your business. What is the
> purpose of the business?

Hi Mike,

Well, in the last 24 hours or so, you, Bob, Mary, and others have really made me think more about how to best use "strategy" in business....

After I typed in that possible definition of business strategy (adapted from the strategist B. H. Liddell Hart's definition of military strategy) - "the art of distributing and applying business assets and means to fulfill a pre-defined goal" - I started thinking further about it....

A business is not really an end in itself. (Well, not usually.) Just like an army is not an end in itself either. It's there as a means to fulfil something else....

To me, this really puts a whole new spin on things.

There are many goals which people turn to business as the means to fulfil them... These could be lifestyle goals, they could be goals of wealth or power, or the goal could be to help others, with business being the means to facilitate that....

My own personal goals are related to lifestyle, as well as some certain achievements I'd like to achieve in my life....

Business is the means by which I hope to achieve that....

Anyhow, what I've done is to make a list of my significant business assets.

There, I've written down things such as my knowledge and skills, my own labor, products I have the right to sell, my web sites, my shares, etc.

This is like the "third leg" of the stool you were mentioning, Mike - it's good to know about the market and your competition, but perhaps most important of all is knowledge of the "self" - that is, what can YOU bring to the strategic effort, in terms of your assets like knowledge, skills, money, physical property, contacts, etc.

So NOW what I am still contemplating is what is the best way to "distribute and apply" my business assets to reach my goals.... This exercise has already revealed a weakness in my business activities so far which I will be fixing ASAP.... But the bottom line is, I'm not finished yet (I've only really just started), but I think it's already been quite useful.... :)

I highly recommend doing this...

First, write down your goal or goals. (Remember, business is just a "means" for attaining that goal.) It could be lifestyle-related or anything else....

Then, write down all of your significant business assets, as I described above. That is, your significant knowledge, skills, physical assets, product rights (or your own products), and so on....

When that's done, think, what is the best way to use these assets to achieve your goals? Do you need to add more or different assets to achieve what you want to? Doing this exercise will probably help make everything become clearer....

Well, that's what I've been up to! :)

- Dien Rice