“A real strategy is a coherent mix of policy and action designed to overcome a significant challenge. So a sensible employee might indeed say that they have no idea what the organization's strategy is - because it seems to have none. Senior managers' so-called "strategies" are heavy with aspirations and goals, but light on how resources and strengths will be combined to achieve them.” RealActionGoalChallengesAchievePolicyOvercomingStrategySignificantAspirationEmployeeSensibleSenior Author:Richard P. Rumelt
“The single most damaging misconception about strategy is that it is a set of financial performance goals. The so-called "strategies" created by many managements are nothing more than three-to-five year financial performance forecasts. They are then labeled "strategy" and shipped off to the board of directors which goes through the motions of discussing how big the numbers are. Strategy is not your aspirations. Strategy is concerned with how you will arrange your actions and resources to punch through the challenges you face.” ActionGoalChallengesConcernedManagementStrategyFinancialAspirationMisconception Author:Richard P. Rumelt
“A good strategy is not always successful, but even an "inappropriate" strategy may be an actual strategy. A "bad strategy" is one that doesn't even try to address an important challenge. Instead, it speaks of aspirations, visions of the future, lays out performance goals, or simply lists a bunch of unconnected actions.” TryingImportantActionSpeakGoalChallengesVisionSuccessfulStrategyAspirationInappropriate Author:Richard P. Rumelt