Many organizations confuse operational plans with strategy. Creating a strategy is an outward-looking, relatively high-level exercise that’s about identifying how to meet your stakeholders’ needs. Once you’ve done that, you can figure out the specific steps you need to take to get there. Here’s how to build a strategy that avoids fragmented efforts and missed opportunities. 
 
Separate strategy from action. Strategy is about positioning your business in the marketplace—it’s not a list of tasks for each function to execute. When you confuse strategy with action, you and your team will lose sight of the overall direction. Keep strategy focused on big-picture positioning instead and let specific decisions and deliverables follow.
 
Reframe your language. The words you use shape your thinking. Replace terms like “marketing strategy” with “customer strategy” and “HR strategy” with “employee strategy” to focus on your stakeholders. Subtle shifts like this help ensure that your strategy remains aligned with the needs of the people you’re serving, not just internal functions and processes.
This tip is adapted from “Keep Strategy Simple,” by Graham Kenny
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