Many people are intimidated by the word “strategy.” Although its meaning is similar to the words plan, method, approach, procedure, and system, it evokes different thoughts and feelings. Often, when people hear the word strategy they think that it sounds more difficult, require extensive knowledge and expertise, and is only used by business executives. What we would like others to understand is that strategy can be relatively simple. The only requirements are true desire and effort. So for those of you who were feeling intimidated by the word strategy, we would like you to believe that if you want to think and be more strategically, you can!

Strategic thinking is a skill that leaders and managers need to develop in today’s new environment. The last thing we want to do in business is launch a “big campaign” or initiatives before we know what we really want to achieve. When focusing on a strategic outlook, it is critical to have a clear target in mind. In order for “optimum” success, a target needs to be well defined and describe what we want the end result to be.

I have been thinking a lot about the word strategy and how often it gets used. It seems like everything today is tagged with the word strategy. For example, “We scheduled a strategic planning meeting for tomorrow,” or “an emergency product strategy session has been called,” or “we had our company’s yearly strategic business plan announced today.”

Strategy or the various forms of the word are very popular in our business vocabulary in the 21st century. I often wonder if the word is being properly allocated or overused, is it a verb or is it a noun, and do we say it complacently because it is a popular buzz word and it makes things sound more important…or do people say it because we really are thinking and acting in a more deliberate and focused way?