Strategist that You Are

I've written about his before, but it crops up so regularly that I can't help myself.

I run across people who lament that there's no strategy in their organization or that they have a significant challenge in their life and no plan to deal with that challenge.

It might just be a matter of semantics, but typically my reply points to Mintzberg's notion of "emergent strategy".

It's pretty simple.

You already HAVE a strategy. You've been executing it for the last while. The question is, How is it working for you?

Let' find an example.

Think of a challenge you possess.

Now, look back at how you've been operating around that matter. What 3 or 4 main things have you been doing? They're there; otherwise, the problem would have eaten you alive by this point.

That's your strategy. You DO have a strategy.

Are you optimistic about it? What can you do to enhance it? Even if it's a teeny weeny thing, what could you do to deal more effectively with that challenge?

Go ahead, crank it up a bit.