Strategy is a widely misunderstood term.  Simply put, strategies are directional and include the objective and the approach.  They are a guide but not the detailed recipe.

Todays post focuses on some exaggerated examples of strategy and tactics to illustrate the concepts.  These are a bit outlandish and only intended to frame the difference between strategy, tactics and the associated planning approaches.

How should I dress?

My approach to dressing starts with a basic strategy.  This can range from bare bones (naked) to fully dressed and all  points in-between.  The strategic statments could be things like:

• Our strategic approach to dress, is to be free and unencumbered.  Minimal use of garments is both environmentally focused, cost effective and beautiful.
• Our strategic approach to dress is to be fully clothed protecting our bodies from the weather and other naturally occuring hazzards that could be harmful.  Our beauty is expressed through our clothing.

Tactics

To implement these strategies we may proposes activiites like purchasing black wool pants and comfortable sweaters.  These form the requirements to achieve the objective.

Obviously the specific clothing requirements support the second strategy whereas tactics in support of the first might include finding tanning saloons that can be leveraged to enhance the beauty of the exposed body.

Planning

Both the strategies and the tactics can have plans outlined activities, schedule and resources.  The main difference in strategic and tactical plans is the level of detail.

The value equation

Strategies, tactics and underlying plans form the recipe for sucess.  Without them you might create a tasty dish, but with them the probability of a successful meal is higher.