What is digital strategy? Part two
28
Feb
2011
This is the second chapter of our white paper on digital strategy, which we’re publishing in weekly instalments. Click here for part one or get in touch with us to find out how to get hold of the full paper.
What we mean by strategy
It’s worth being clear about the meaning of the word “strategy”, which can be difficult to define even though it is used often.
In a business context, the word “strategic” is sometimes used as a synonym for “important”. A project or initiative is described as strategic when all that is meant is that it is valuable and should be treated as a high priority.
Used in this sense, the word “strategic” is stripped of its finer meaning and becomes something of a blunt instrument. Budgetholders, worried that their initiative might be deprioritised, compete to prove the “strategic” credentials of their projects. Strategic planning becomes difficult as suddenly all projects are “strategic” and attempts to differentiate between them risks controversy.
To avoid this situation, we should be clear about what we mean when we talk about digital strategy. We’ll look at two specific concepts here – the approach or mindset called “strategic thinking”, and the tangible plans or outputs known as “strategies”.
The strategic mindset
Books can (and have) been written about what it means to think strategically. But we need a more concise definition here. The strategic mindset satisfies two main criteria:
- It perceives the broader narrative unfolding behind the daily, weekly, or monthly reality of business operations
- It is able to connect this broader narrative to the aforementioned daily reality.
If the first condition is not met, good ideas and coherent directions are unlikely to form. And if the second is not met, strategic thought takes place in a bubble, its value unlikely to be realised.
These criteria are both essential to the strategic mindset, and digital strategy is no exception.
Producing and communicating strategies
At the simplest level, a strategy is a plan that embodies strategic thinking. It is less linear and more adaptable than a “classic” project or program plan, and must be applicable in a wide range of circumstances. Strategies are plans that are capable of giving rise to new plans at differing levels of detail, and that remain relevant even when underlying assumptions and conditions change
Another particular aspect of strategies is that their form and function are intertwined: the communicability is as important as the content. A well thought out strategy has no value if it’s only understood by the strategists that created it. To be effective, it must be understood by the organisation at large.
This means that strategies sometimes have a dual nature. There is the detailed strategy, a detailed plan touching on numerous areas that is highly sensitive and intelligible to a mainly executive audience. But there is also the communication of the strategy, which distils the detailed strategy into a memorable statement or graphic that is understood across the organisation. Both of these are equally important.
Mark Zuckerberg’s mysterious insignia
In June 2010 Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg was forced to remove his hooded top on stage a the D8 conference. In doing so he inadvertently revealed a diagram which apparently articulates Facebook’s strategy, centred around the three pillars of Graph, Stream and Platform.
Facebook's internal strategy insignia
Is this a “good” strategy? The image may be baffling but Facebook’s success suggests that the organisation is capable of crafting strategic plans and executing them well. Artefacts like this are a small manifestation of what is clearly a significant activity within the business.
Next week
The next chapter continues the exploration of what it means not just to think strategically but to communicate strategically instead. Check back next week to keep on reading.
Leave a Reply
This is the second chapter of our white paper on digital strategy, which we’re publishing in weekly instalments. Click here for part one or get in touch with us to find out how to get hold of the full paper.
What we mean by strategy
It’s worth being clear about the meaning of the word “strategy”, which can be difficult to define even though it is used often.
In a business context, the word “strategic” is sometimes used as a synonym for “important”. A project or initiative is described as strategic when all that is meant is that it is valuable and should be treated as a high priority.
Used in this sense, the word “strategic” is stripped of its finer meaning and becomes something of a blunt instrument. Budgetholders, worried that their initiative might be deprioritised, compete to prove the “strategic” credentials of their projects. Strategic planning becomes difficult as suddenly all projects are “strategic” and attempts to differentiate between them risks controversy.
To avoid this situation, we should be clear about what we mean when we talk about digital strategy. We’ll look at two specific concepts here – the approach or mindset called “strategic thinking”, and the tangible plans or outputs known as “strategies”.
The strategic mindset
Books can (and have) been written about what it means to think strategically. But we need a more concise definition here. The strategic mindset satisfies two main criteria:
- It perceives the broader narrative unfolding behind the daily, weekly, or monthly reality of business operations
- It is able to connect this broader narrative to the aforementioned daily reality.
If the first condition is not met, good ideas and coherent directions are unlikely to form. And if the second is not met, strategic thought takes place in a bubble, its value unlikely to be realised.
These criteria are both essential to the strategic mindset, and digital strategy is no exception.
Producing and communicating strategies
At the simplest level, a strategy is a plan that embodies strategic thinking. It is less linear and more adaptable than a “classic” project or program plan, and must be applicable in a wide range of circumstances. Strategies are plans that are capable of giving rise to new plans at differing levels of detail, and that remain relevant even when underlying assumptions and conditions change
Another particular aspect of strategies is that their form and function are intertwined: the communicability is as important as the content. A well thought out strategy has no value if it’s only understood by the strategists that created it. To be effective, it must be understood by the organisation at large.
This means that strategies sometimes have a dual nature. There is the detailed strategy, a detailed plan touching on numerous areas that is highly sensitive and intelligible to a mainly executive audience. But there is also the communication of the strategy, which distils the detailed strategy into a memorable statement or graphic that is understood across the organisation. Both of these are equally important.
Mark Zuckerberg’s mysterious insignia
In June 2010 Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg was forced to remove his hooded top on stage a the D8 conference. In doing so he inadvertently revealed a diagram which apparently articulates Facebook’s strategy, centred around the three pillars of Graph, Stream and Platform.
Facebook's internal strategy insignia
Is this a “good” strategy? The image may be baffling but Facebook’s success suggests that the organisation is capable of crafting strategic plans and executing them well. Artefacts like this are a small manifestation of what is clearly a significant activity within the business.
Next week
The next chapter continues the exploration of what it means not just to think strategically but to communicate strategically instead. Check back next week to keep on reading.
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