What is strategy and the “car bonnet analogy”!

When I have lectured and mentored colleagues with respect to developing strategic command skills, one of the most asked and discussed issues is “What is strategy?” Aspiring leaders seem to get hung up on the mythical ability to ‘be strategic’. I try and explain strategy using the car bonnet analogy. It goes like this: when you are driving a vehicle you look at what is right in front of you to navigate through the traffic but you also have planned the journey to your final destination and have anticipated the road and weather conditions and what might be coming over the hill towards you. During the journey your attention moves between the traffic you are in and your overall progress to your destination. 

Therefore, what’s in front of you are the tactics; planning your journey and working out where you want to go , how you want to get there and what might be coming towards you is the strategy. It is a simple analogy but I think it works as it demystifies the immediate here and now from the big picture longer term objectives. Having said that, a deep understanding of the environment and the intelligence picture, both with respect to the politics and society within in which you are operating, contributes massively to your overall situational awareness and understanding.

I try to use simple, precise language as I have found too many use ‘buzz words’ to obfuscate their lack of understanding or depth of thinking: using the latest fashionable managerial jargon tends to make people think you know what you are doing! Nothing could be farther from the truth; hearing people rattle on about the ‘strategic space or ecosystem’ sets my teeth on edge! The most effective leaders, and ones that I have admired, are able to express complex ideas clearly using simple language. To paraphrase Samual Johnson freely, jargon is the last refuge of the incompetent! 

Thus, in my view ‘being strategic’ is no more than having a vision of what you want to achieve, a deep and wide understanding of your operating environment, combined with the ability to communicate effectively to your audiences.