Welcome to the Strategic Executive Show. I’m your host Rich Horwath,  founder of The Strategic Thinking Institute. In this series, I’ll share tools, tips and techniques to enhance your strategic thinking and planning capabilities to set direction, create advantage and achieve your goals. This week, it’s all about digging into what strategy is at its core, and how to understand and reconnect with its true purpose and meaning. 

First, I’ll chat with a special guest–Chinese General, philosopher, and author of, The Art of War, Sun Tzu–and by the way, he’s dead–to talk about the core differences between strategy and tactics, how effective strategy can create a roadmap to your goals, and the importance of tuning up your strategic plan  to adapt to your evolving environment. Then, we dive into the most common mistake regarding strategy, and why mistaking operational effectiveness for strategy can prevent you from separating yourself from the pack. Our first episode wouldn’t be complete without a quick visit from Strategy Jack, to help us break down some tools and techniques to craft an impactful roadmap. Let’s strategize! 

What You’ll Hear In This Episode:

• How strategy has become convoluted and confused with other terms  in business. 
• The common traps to avoid when developing your strategy. 
• The difference between strategy and tactics. 
• Why strategy without insight compromises your competitive advantage. 
• The three elements within an impactful strategy: Resource allocation, unique system of activity, and primary components. 
• What research says 93% of the top financially performing companies have in common. 
• What two questions good planning should aim to answer.
• The G.O.S.T. Framework: Goals, objectives, strategies, and tactics.

Quotes/Tweetables:

• “Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat” [3:50] -Sun Tzu
• “Without strategy, it becomes a game of tactical roulette, where you're just throwing things up on the wall to see what sticks. With strategy in place, it provides a path to your destination.” [4:00] -Rich 
• “Preparation is seldom exciting, but it is the foundation of success.” [5:02] -Rich
• “Simply put, strategy is how you plan to achieve a goal.” [8:30] -Rich
• “Show me how your people are spending their time, talent and budget every day, and you'll see your true strategy.” [9:15] -Rich
• “Good leaders don't leave strategy to chance” [9:30] -Rich
• “It's not until you get off the beaten path that the beating can begin” [10:38] -Rich
• “​​It's very difficult to fix something that's been done badly, you'd better do your thinking and planning up front when you have the time.” [17:27] -David Mamet

Connect with Us!

Strategic Thinking Institute 

Rich Horwath: LinkedIn | Twitter | Instagram | Books 

Mentioned : 

The Art of War 

StrategyMan vs. the Anti-Strategy Squad: Using Strategic Thinking to Defeat Bad Strategy and Save Your Plan

Keywords: strategic thinking, strategy, strategic planning, strategic, tactics, goal, goals, objective, objectives, plan, planning, business, sun tzu, create, develop, effectiveness, leadership, rich horwath,