What Makes A Great Strategy?

Most strategies fail before they even start.

Because what people think strategy is…
isn’t what strategy actually is.

I’ve watched brilliant founders create 100-slide decks
filled with buzzwords and vision statements.

They talk about “beating the competition” and
“dominating the market.”

Then 6 months later? Nothing has changed.

Here’s the truth about real strategy:

What Strategy ISN’T:
❌ A pretty deck that sits on a shelf
❌ Copying what your competitors do (but “better”)
❌ Big goals without tough choices
❌ Trying to be everything to everyone

What Strategy ACTUALLY IS:
✅ Choosing what NOT to do (this one hurts)
✅ Being different, not better
✅ Making trade-offs that make you sweat
✅ Solving problems others don’t see yet

The best strategy I ever saw?

A founder who shut down 3 profitable product lines
to focus on just one.

His board thought he was crazy.
His team was terrified.
Even his wife questioned it.

But he knew:
Strategy is about putting all your chips on a few big bets.

Not hedging. Not playing it safe. Going all in.

18 months later?

That one product line did 10x the revenue of
all 3 combined.

Save this.
Share it with your team.
Use it in your next strategic planning session.

Here’s my test for a real strategy:
→ Can your newest employee explain it in 30 seconds?
→ Does it force you to say “no” to good opportunities?
→ Does it create rules your competition can’t follow?

If not, you don’t have a strategy.
You have a wish list.

Most leaders want strategy to be comfortable.
But real strategy should make you uncomfortable.

It’s not about having all the answers.

It’s about testing small, learning fast,
then going all in when you find what works.

Your turn: Agree? Disagree? What makes a great strategy?