Your Company Strategy… Is It Good or Bad?

George Roberts

July 8, 2011

To help you get started I wanted to share an article I came across in the McKinsey Quarterly written by Richard Rummelt, titled “The Perils of Bad Strategy”.

In the article he describes the hallmarks of a bad strategy…

  • Failure to face the problem
  • Mistaking goals for strategy
  • Bad strategic objectives
  • Fluff

He then goes on to discuss why there is so much bad strategy in businesses today by exploring two common symptoms that lead to bad strategy development within a business…

  • The inability to choose
  • Template style  strategy

He then goes on to discuss the kernel of good strategy…

  1. A diagnosis
  2. A guiding policy
  3. Coherent actions

I found this a great read that will help anyone frame their thoughts around what a company’s strategy should be going forward into 2012 and beyond. This is one to print out for your folder or bookmark so you have it available every time you want to think about setting strategy, and to share with your team when you are in discussions around setting strategy for the company.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I did…

All the best!

G

Venture Partner

<strong>George Roberts</strong> is a Venture Partner at OpenView. He enjoys partnering with companies and helping them achieve their goals through strategy, focus and operational execution. From 1990 to 2003, George spent 13 years at Oracle Corporation, most recently having served as Executive Vice President of North American Sales. While at Oracle, George was responsible for over $1 billion in revenue and more than 2,000 employees, reporting directly to the company’s CEO and Chairman, Larry Ellison.