Management
Issue No. 57 - February/March 2011
Components of a good strategy
by Carol Haslam
Sun Tzu’s Art of War defines five main components of a Strategy, which are: Mission; Skills; Ground; Leadership; Climate.
These terms may not be easy to understand as they have been translated from Chinese and are in a war context, but they apply in just the same way in a business context – or even to your own career and your work-life balance.
Many business executives get confused between Strategy, Vision, Mission, Values and Objectives, so let’s start with a simple view.
- Vision: should be far-reaching and state what you want to be
- Mission: should explain why you exist
- Values: should state what you believe in and your principles of behaviour
- Objectives or Goals: should be clearly defined in a structure which follows the SMART set of rules – Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Results-oriented and within a Timeframe.
Strategy is what your competitive game plan will be. Using the five components from Sun Tzu, your strategy may be clearly defined.
1. Mission (or philosophy)
This is the uniting component – the one which makes you (the business owner or CEO), your key executives and all your staff work on the same page towards the same results. Your mission can be at three levels – to do a good day’s work for a good day’s pay; to be the best you can be; to have a lasting impact and ...
