What is a Strategic Decision?

By Mark Rhodes on October 12, 2010

What is a strategic decision, and how is it different from an operational or tactical decision? Strategic decisions determine the grand direction upon which an entity will embark.  Always, strategy precedes action. The object of strategy is to bring about advantageous conditions within which action will occur.  In the military context, this means positioning forces for best advantage […]

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What is Strategic Planning?

By Carter McNamara on September 30, 2010

Simply put, strategic planning is clarifying the overall purpose and desired results of an organization, and how those results will be achieved. There are different ways to do that planning, depending on the purpose(s) of the planning, the life cycle or stage of development of the organization, the culture of people in the organization, types […]

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The Strategic Advantage of the Upstart Competitor

By Mark Rhodes on August 17, 2010

From the days of ancient warfare, large armies have struggled with an inherent disadvantage: Sheer size presents an easy target for a quick and nimble attack force. The red-coated, regimented British struggled to fend off undisciplined American revolutionaries. The Vietnam era Americans could not defend themselves adequately from the pesky, unpredictable Viet Cong. In the […]

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Planning for Disaster: from Oil Spills to Credit Crises

By Mark Rhodes on July 2, 2010

In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable. Dwight D. Eisenhower One of the ironies of the recent oil spill debacle in the Gulf of Mexico is that it is the oil industry that is most often credited with devising and putting to use a strategicplanning tool […]

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Strategic Thinking and the Law of Nemesis

By Mark Rhodes on June 21, 2010

The Law of Nemesis is a useful concept for leaders, strategists and strategic planners. In a nutshell, the law states that if things are going well in your enterprises, you must be aware that Nemesis is lurking, since no successful effort goes unnoticed by competitors. Mark Rhodes of Strategy by Design explains the concept in […]

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Are You Doing Strategic Planning? Probably

By Carter McNamara on June 17, 2010

How One Typical Facilitator (Mistakenly) Concluded the Client Wasn’t Doing Strategic Planning I got a call last week from a facilitator, asking for advice about an aspect of strategic planning.  He kept asserting that his client, a manufacturer of outdoor recreational equipment, wasn’t doing strategic planning.  I asked how he came to that conclusion. He […]

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A Key Strategic Choice: When to Outsource Work

By Mark Rhodes on June 14, 2010

Nike makes shoes, right? Well, not exactly. Nike is a wonderful company with superb marketing capability. But Nike outsources the actual manufacturing process to someone else. So in that sense, Nike does not make shoes. Nike’s competitive work is the design and marketing of athletic shoes. Obviously, the company has succeeded for years at doing […]

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The Organic Model of Strategic Planning

By Carter McNamara on June 10, 2010

What Is an Organic Approach? Organization and management sciences today are placing a great deal of attention to naturalistic approaches to development.  One of the most prominent approaches is called “self-organizing” systems.  These are systems that develop primarily according to certain values, rather than according to specific procedures. Biological systems (people, plants, animals, etc.) are […]

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Five Essentials of an Effective Strategy

By Mark Rhodes on June 7, 2010

The principles of strategy are timeless.  The following notes on the essentials of strategy are drawn from the great works of strategy… Sun Tzu’s The Art of War, Napoleon’s Maxims, Clausewitz’ On War. Though dating up to 2,500 years ago, the advice of these strategists is helpful today no matter your competitive landscape, from high […]

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How to Change Your Strategic Plan

By Carter McNamara on May 27, 2010

Few plans are implemented as intended.  That’s one of the reasons that people lose faith in planning.  They expect their plans to be implemented exactly as described in the plan.  One of the unfortunate aspects of this situation is that many consultants assert that “planning doesn’t work.”  It does work when it’s done well. During […]

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