Most organizations treat strategy as if it’s scary, secret and important. It’s thought to be made up of a lot of complicated theories, concepts, analyses and equations. This idea is fueled partly by the fact that the people who participate in it are often senior members of the organization. It’s also encouraged by the fact that strategy has been for many years the capstone course in most MBA courses and the people who do it tend to be paid a lot of money.
Well this is partly right. Strategy really is important. It is the biggest lever available to move the whole organization. Strategic choices and decisions drive all kinds of smaller choices and decisions. So it’s vital that an organization is clear about what its strategy is and how everyday actions can become acts of implementation. And because of this you can’t afford for your strategy to be a secret from the very people who are going to implement it in the business units. Nor can you afford for it to be a tiresome chore for them; an empty obligation to the corporate office. People in the business units usually know more about what’s going on with competitors and with customers anyway – so they should be directly involved in making the strategy in the first place. They need support and encouragement to do this for their own sakes
