The Strategy Problem No One Talks About

Every company claims to have a strategy. But let’s be honest—most strategies aren’t actually guiding decisions. They exist in decks, get dusted off at leadership meetings, and rarely influence day-to-day execution in a meaningful way.

Too often, strategy is treated as an event rather than a system—something that happens once a year at an offsite or in response to a crisis, rather than a dynamic, guiding force embedded into how the company operates.

And the result? Misalignment, slow decision-making, and an inability to proactively shape the future.

The 4 Common Strategy Failures (And Why They Don’t Work)

Most businesses struggle with strategy because they fall into one of these four common but flawed approaches:

The "Annual Offsite" Strategy

What It Looks Like: Strategy is treated as a once-a-year planning exercise where leaders spend a few days in a conference room, brainstorm ambitious goals, and then return to business as usual.

Why It Fails: Without ongoing iteration and accountability, strategy becomes static—it doesn’t evolve as market conditions change.

How to Fix It: Strategy should be a living, breathing process, not a single event. It needs to be revisited quarterly (at a minimum) and tied to real business decisions.

The "Reactionary" Strategy

What It Looks Like: The company pivots based on market trends, competitor moves, or customer feedback—but without a proactive plan. Decisions are made based on what’s urgent today, rather than where the company should be heading.

Why It Fails: Reacting to external forces keeps companies playing defense instead of offense. There’s no long-term vision, just a series of short-term adjustments.

How to Fix It: Companies need a North Star Strategy—a long-term direction that helps them anticipate change instead of constantly responding to it.

The "Disconnected" Strategy

What It Looks Like: Different teams—Product, UX, Marketing, and Business Strategy—each create their own version of “strategy.”

Why It Fails: These strategies don’t ladder up to a unified vision, leading to misalignment, competing priorities, and fragmented customer experiences.

How to Fix It: Strategy should be cross-functional from the start. A unified vision should guide every team’s initiatives so that product, UX, and business strategy aren’t pulling in different directions.

The "Data-Only" Strategy

What It Looks Like: Every decision is driven by past performance metrics, analytics, and A/B test results.

Why It Fails: Companies get trapped in an incremental mindset, optimizing for what worked yesterday instead of shaping what should exist tomorrow.

How to Fix It: Great strategy balances data and foresight. Companies need to look at emerging trends, market shifts, and consumer behavior signals—not just past data—to make informed bets on the future.

So, What Does a Strong Strategy Look Like?

A truly effective strategy is:

• Vision-Led: It defines a bold, long-term direction (5-10 years) that teams can align around.

• Trend-Integrated: It accounts for future market shifts and disruptions instead of relying only on past data.

• Operationalized: It isn’t just a concept—it’s built into prioritization, roadmaps, and execution frameworks.

• Scalable & Repeatable: It isn’t reinvented every year—it’s a structured, living process that teams can reference and apply.

The Fix: A Better Framework for Strategy

Instead of falling into the "strategy traps" above, companies need a repeatable system that makes strategy actionable. Here’s how I approach it:

1️⃣ Vision (5-10 years) → A compelling, long-term direction that aligns teams.

2️⃣ Mission (1-2 years) → What we’re doing now to move toward that vision.

3️⃣ Guiding Principles → The rules that shape how we make decisions.

4️⃣ OKRs & Priorities → What success looks like, with measurable impact.

5️⃣ Emerging Trends & Foresight → How market shifts influence where we focus.

6️⃣ Key Initiatives → The bold moves we’re making to drive impact.

This approach ensures that strategy isn’t just a set of slides—it’s something that actually drives business decisions.

Is Your Strategy a Compass or a Fire Alarm?

The best companies don’t react to the future—they shape it. If your strategy is just a collection of annual goals, metrics, and roadmaps, it’s time to rethink how you define direction.

Strategy should be a compass, not a fire alarm. It should guide what to focus on, where to invest, and how to lead—before the market forces you to.

If you want to build a strategy that’s forward-thinking, scalable, and actually drives results, let’s connect.