“In military usage, a distinction is made between strategy and tactics. Strategy is the utilization, during both peace and war, of all of a nation’s forces, through large-scale, long-range planning and development, to ensure security or victory. Tactics deals with the use and deployment of troops in actual combat.”

And so it is in business. Most businessmen and businesswomen are pretty good at tactics - but don’t spend enough time on developing and honing their strategies.

In business, strategy feels a little nebulous - something that expensive consultants like to talk about, something that doesn’t have any real value in the day-to-day running of a business. Believe it or not, all companies have a strategy. Some are explicit; they are discussed, debated, written and broadcast to the company on a regular basis. Other strategies are more muddled - not articulated and they live in the head of the CEO.

Developing your strategy is extremely important, as it will establish a company’s ability to adapt and compete over the long term. A number of components are taken into consideration while developing strategy: company goals, market situation, competitive landscape, company competencies/competitive advantage. In short, your strategy is all about what the company is today and what you would like it to be a year from now, even five or 10 years from now. Action plans are derived from strategies (not the other way around).

Let’s leave the PVF world for a moment and talk about two companies we are all familiar with: Rolls Royce and General Motors. On the face of it, these companies are similar. They make cars (and not much else - unlike many Japanese manufacturers that make cars, motorcycles, snowmobiles, lawnmowers, etc.). Yet, they have had very different strategies over the years. The Rolls Royce strategy has been one focused almost exclusively on brand and the image of luxury. You don’t think of Rolls Royce vehicles as being fast or gas efficient, or as technological wonders, because a Rolls is none of those things. These aren’t part of their strategic mission. You can be sure that Rolls will never introduce an “economy” Rolls - that would do untold damage to one of their core strategic values.

GM, on the other hand, has tried its hand at many things. Low-cost producer, fast cars, luxury cars, trucks, etc. Once upon a time the breadth and depth of their manufacturing was their competitive advantage and a main component of their strategy. “We’re GM - We can out-manufacture anybody.” This was true for a very long time. (Don’t forget that GM was the dominant automaker for decades.) It is hard to say what GM’s strategy is these days, beyond not getting killed by the competition. They stuck to their “we can out-manufacture anybody” too long. They didn’t respond to that new manufacturing marvel - their biggest threat - Toyota. And now they are struggling.

Strategies must be ever-changing. No strategy is bullet-proof. The brilliant strategies will get noticed by the competition, and sooner or later somebody will copy it. This is a strategy itself - letting the other company go through the struggles of developing a new strategy and when it looks successful, copy it. This is called the “me-too” strategy. On one hand, these companies are never first to market with a new service, product or concept. On the other hand, they minimize their risks.

Now let’s look at a completely different market: celebrity chefs. I am sure that 25 - 30 years ago, Wolfgang Puck had a simple strategy about creating a different high-end dining experience. Celebrity chefs didn’t really exist back then. There was no Emeril, no cooking channel. Puck has been brilliant in adapting his strategy. Over the years, he has opened numerous restaurants designed by up-and-coming architects, he has a line of Wolfgang Puck foodstuffs sold in grocery stores, he has TV shows, he has a line of cookware. I may never eat in one of his restaurants, but I might pick up a bottle of his lime, cilantro fish marinade tomorrow. He has constantly updated his original strategy, turning it into something much broader- elevating him above the competitive reach of the newest batch of celebrity chefs. Some argue that he has overextended his name, and thus, his brand. Maybe, but Mr. Puck is no longer “just a celebrity chef,” he is the head of a large international business.

So if you have never really thought out your strategy or maybe it has been a really, really long time, now’s the time.

Building a strategy is a messy affair. It requires a team effort.