Seven Strategy Questions

In strategy, the quality of execution counts as much as the underlying idea, no matter how brilliant. Based on this observation, Robert Simons, a Harvard Business School professor, proposes seven questions companies should ask to test the viability of their strategy, including: To which customers do you give preference when making tradeoffs? What strategic boundaries have you defined? What performance indicators do you track? Every executive and strategic stakeholder must be able to answer these questions clearly. Otherwise, you should take this as a sign that your strategic thinking is not yet ready for implementation. Chapters 1 and 2, on choosing priorities, chapter 4, on defining the playing field, as well as chapter 7, on integrating uncertainty in these scenarios, are particularly enlightening in the context of turbulent markets. They encourage us to modify the way we think about strategy.