Strategy Is Not Planning (And Why the Difference Costs You)

A plan allocates resources in a known world. A strategy makes choices in an uncertain one. Teams that start from the plan (“what’s next year’s budget?”) without a strategy underneath are just extrapolating the past, and get blindsided when the market shifts.

The test: can you say, in one sentence, what you will not work on even though it’s profitable? Strategy is a set of deliberate sacrifices as much as a set of commitments. Whoever wants everything has no strategy.

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