6 ms·

Are there some historical examples of good strategies out there? I'm having trouble understanding the definition of a strategy and how it differs from a plan.

spywaregorilla 4y ago
A strategy is more of a framework of how decisions will be made and what the long term goals are. A plan is usually specifics steps you will do to achieve those goals.
doctor_eval 4y ago
My take on strategic thinking is that it’s a small set of very high level and related goals and constraints that, if achieved, are likely to lead to the success of a project. A good strategy IMO is relatively simple (a short set of bullet points), widely known, and actively used to guide decision making at all levels. Most importantly, a good strategy helps you to say “no”, because most of us have very limited resources at our disposal and we simply can’t do everything. Here’s a simple example. Let’s say we have some SaaS product; we naturally want to maximise its revenue. There are many potential strategies. Strategy “A” might be to sell a small number of subs at a high monthly price. Strategy “B” might be to sell many subs at a low monthly price. Strategy “C” might be to fund the product through advertising. There are other strategies, too. You will pick the strategy you believe has the greatest chance of achieving your goals in your specific circumstances. (Typically the strategy would also involve conscious decisions about how the product works and where it fits in the market) Choosing a specific strategy helps you allocate scarce resources and build the right product. Adopting a strategy “A” above could maybe let you manage without a complex self-onboarding flow, but it might also require a (potentially expensive) direct sales team. Strategy “B” and “C” might require self-onboarding, which can be tricky, but requires a less expensive marketing team. Strategy “C” doesn’t require a payment gateway or billing platform, but probably needs to be able to operate at greater scale. > Are there some historical examples of good strategies out there? Most strategies play out in stages over time. IIRC, Tesla had a pretty simple strategy of selling super expensive Roadsters to learn about building cars and to fund the manufacture of expensive models S and X, which in turn funded the less expensive models 3 and Y. The beauty of their strategy was that they knew why they were building a Roadster, and they weren’t distracted by wondering if they should add certain features like (I’m making this up) child restraints. The risk of this strategy was that there might not be enough rich people to buy enough roadsters to get to second base. (History suggests they made the right call) The thing is, if you don’t have a strategy then you end up wasting resources building every little brain fart someone comes up with in the hope that your numbers will improve. But the weight of all these conflicting ideas, and the time wasted on things that don’t work out, is every bit as risky as choosing a single coherent strategy. A strategy is like a great feature filter where you can throw out half the ideas because “it doesn’t fit with our strategy”, which makes you heaps more efficient. As long as you don’t change strategies too often. > I'm having trouble understanding the definition of a strategy and how it differs from a plan. In truth, a strategy is just a kind of plan, but one without much detail. It’s the high level stuff that kind of lays out the game plan. First, you need to decide that you need to build a Roadster - that’s the strategy. Then, you need to build it. That requires planning. The strategy is important because it tells you why you’re building it. The planning is important because it makes the strategy happen.
dgb23 4y ago
There's huge overlap, but if you want to differentiate them, then you can do it like so: A strategy is high level stuff. Typically vague and open to interpretation. It's about general approach and big decisions, core principles and goals. Tactics/operations is the details given a particular situation or project. They can be grounded in specific steps to take. A plan can be understood as formulating tactics and bridging the gap between strategy and tactics. You may have multiple plans that you pull out given some events and circumstances. I think there's overlap with the term 'protocol' as well. As for good historical examples you may look at military strategy. The most consistent and successful ones are often the most boring: robust logistics and well-provisioned forces, cultural assimilation, high discipline/training, mass produced equipment, specialized roles, competent officers etc. Those are broad strokes and not necessarily specific implementations (even though they matter too). Look at the Romans or Ottomans for good examples.
tmountain 4y ago
I think Apple launching the iPod is a good example. - They saw a need in the consumer market that wasn't filled. - They used the Apple team as "target customers" to help with needs analysis. - They addressed UX/ergonomics issues present in existing offerings. - They leveraged existing footholds to maximize value (iTunes, digital store, etc). - They started with a niche market to gain influencer status with their offering. - They ended with an ecosystem of products built around their original idea, some of which represented new innovations that weren't part of the original plan. All of the bullets above can be folded into a plan, but at the macro level, they comprise a directional motion for the org. "We're going to offer this thing to solve this problem to these people, our unique competitive advantages are X, Y, and Z, and we believe we're uniquely positioned as a result."
- ghaff 4y ago
  >- They leveraged existing footholds to maximize value (iTunes, digital store, etc) And with the exception of this, there was arguably very little about the original iPod strategy--at least as seen from the outside--that was at all remarkable and differentiating. It was mostly about execution including marketing.
danielmarkbruce 4y ago
A decent definition for business is: a strategy involves competitors. If the thing you are talking about won't effect competitors or make them do anything different, it isn't strategic.

spywaregorilla 4y ago

A strategy is more of a framework of how decisions will be made and what the long term goals are. A plan is usually specifics steps you will do to achieve those goals.

doctor_eval 4y ago

My take on strategic thinking is that it’s a small set of very high level and related goals and constraints that, if achieved, are likely to lead to the success of a project. A good strategy IMO is relatively simple (a short set of bullet points), widely known, and actively used to guide decision making at all levels. Most importantly, a good strategy helps you to say “no”, because most of us have very limited resources at our disposal and we simply can’t do everything. Here’s a simple example. Let’s say we have some SaaS product; we naturally want to maximise its revenue. There are many potential strategies. Strategy “A” might be to sell a small number of subs at a high monthly price. Strategy “B” might be to sell many subs at a low monthly price. Strategy “C” might be to fund the product through advertising. There are other strategies, too. You will pick the strategy you believe has the greatest chance of achieving your goals in your specific circumstances. (Typically the strategy would also involve conscious decisions about how the product works and where it fits in the market) Choosing a specific strategy helps you allocate scarce resources and build the right product. Adopting a strategy “A” above could maybe let you manage without a complex self-onboarding flow, but it might also require a (potentially expensive) direct sales team. Strategy “B” and “C” might require self-onboarding, which can be tricky, but requires a less expensive marketing team. Strategy “C” doesn’t require a payment gateway or billing platform, but probably needs to be able to operate at greater scale. > Are there some historical examples of good strategies out there? Most strategies play out in stages over time. IIRC, Tesla had a pretty simple strategy of selling super expensive Roadsters to learn about building cars and to fund the manufacture of expensive models S and X, which in turn funded the less expensive models 3 and Y. The beauty of their strategy was that they knew why they were building a Roadster, and they weren’t distracted by wondering if they should add certain features like (I’m making this up) child restraints. The risk of this strategy was that there might not be enough rich people to buy enough roadsters to get to second base. (History suggests they made the right call) The thing is, if you don’t have a strategy then you end up wasting resources building every little brain fart someone comes up with in the hope that your numbers will improve. But the weight of all these conflicting ideas, and the time wasted on things that don’t work out, is every bit as risky as choosing a single coherent strategy. A strategy is like a great feature filter where you can throw out half the ideas because “it doesn’t fit with our strategy”, which makes you heaps more efficient. As long as you don’t change strategies too often. > I'm having trouble understanding the definition of a strategy and how it differs from a plan. In truth, a strategy is just a kind of plan, but one without much detail. It’s the high level stuff that kind of lays out the game plan. First, you need to decide that you need to build a Roadster - that’s the strategy. Then, you need to build it. That requires planning. The strategy is important because it tells you why you’re building it. The planning is important because it makes the strategy happen.

dgb23 4y ago

There's huge overlap, but if you want to differentiate them, then you can do it like so: A strategy is high level stuff. Typically vague and open to interpretation. It's about general approach and big decisions, core principles and goals. Tactics/operations is the details given a particular situation or project. They can be grounded in specific steps to take. A plan can be understood as formulating tactics and bridging the gap between strategy and tactics. You may have multiple plans that you pull out given some events and circumstances. I think there's overlap with the term 'protocol' as well. As for good historical examples you may look at military strategy. The most consistent and successful ones are often the most boring: robust logistics and well-provisioned forces, cultural assimilation, high discipline/training, mass produced equipment, specialized roles, competent officers etc. Those are broad strokes and not necessarily specific implementations (even though they matter too). Look at the Romans or Ottomans for good examples.

tmountain 4y ago

I think Apple launching the iPod is a good example. - They saw a need in the consumer market that wasn't filled. - They used the Apple team as "target customers" to help with needs analysis. - They addressed UX/ergonomics issues present in existing offerings. - They leveraged existing footholds to maximize value (iTunes, digital store, etc). - They started with a niche market to gain influencer status with their offering. - They ended with an ecosystem of products built around their original idea, some of which represented new innovations that weren't part of the original plan. All of the bullets above can be folded into a plan, but at the macro level, they comprise a directional motion for the org. "We're going to offer this thing to solve this problem to these people, our unique competitive advantages are X, Y, and Z, and we believe we're uniquely positioned as a result."

ghaff 4y ago
>- They leveraged existing footholds to maximize value (iTunes, digital store, etc) And with the exception of this, there was arguably very little about the original iPod strategy--at least as seen from the outside--that was at all remarkable and differentiating. It was mostly about execution including marketing.

danielmarkbruce 4y ago

A decent definition for business is: a strategy involves competitors. If the thing you are talking about won't effect competitors or make them do anything different, it isn't strategic.