If Everyone Likes the Strategy, It’s Probably Not a Good Strategy

There are a lot of definitions of strategy in the literature. Perhaps the most famous is Michael Porter’s statement, “Strategy is what you don’t do.” That is, the mark of a good strategy is that it defines objectives, scope, and activities precisely enough that what fits and what doesn’t fit in the strategy is clear.

This is important because it’s impossible to serve every need of every customer in every geography. It’s also generally infeasible to invest a high level of effort, resources, and attention in every activity of the organization. (Even if you could, it wouldn’t make strategic sense to do so.) 

What that means organizationally: Whatever strategy is set, some people on the team aren’t going to like it. 

In fact, if everyone likes the strategy, it’s probably not a good one. 

It’s at this point that all the literature I’ve read on strategy becomes less useful.  It’s crystal clear on the benefits of focus and alignment, but not terribly articulate about how leaders should deal with the organizational fallout of carrying out those decisions.

For sure, the fact that some people won’t like the decision that is made—whatever it may be—is a testament to why strategic leadership requires courage (which I wrote about last week).

But perhaps the biggest lesson is that leaders shouldn’t try to make everyone like the strategy. Instead, they should proactively build trust, which creates a foundation for people to accept and understand the strategic direction. Trust is what enables people to think, “I don’t like it, but I’m willing to see how it goes.”

In previous posts, I suggested that there are two parts of being a strategic leader—building great individual strategic instincts, and creating a strategic culture throughout one’s team and organization. The point on trust-building is fundamentally about the latter. 

It’s the team’s level of trust that greases the wheels of strategic change. It doesn’t eliminate the friction entirely, but it lets the machine move forward even when friction exists.