The strategy vibe trap

❌ This trap is when a strategy team goes for style over substance instead of an approach that is sustainable and geared for growth and change. Having spent 20+ years in branding, marketing and communications, I’m naturally a fan of a well-written, well-presented idea. That’s not the trap in question. This trap is when strategy becomes the vehicle used to re-engage a team or re-excite a market. It typically happens when there’s an undiagnosed and/or untreated failure of leadership impacting morale, accountability or reputation. A clue is when the heavy lifting of strategy hasn’t been done, and leaders have either become wedded to their overly complicated analysis (not a strategy), or have jumped to wordsmithing ideas and imagining campaigns. They lock down and launch a half-baked strategy that sounds and looks impressive at a glance, but delivers nothing useful, usable or substantive. Strategic decisions haven’t been made. Factors like systems and behaviours for execution haven’t been discussed.

✅ The flip side is a strategy that is sustainable. I’m not referring to an organisation’s impact on the world (though all leaders should care about that). I’m referring to the strategy itself. When it’s sustainable, it is inherently practical. Tough, strategic decisions have been made to empower easier tactical decisions. The strategy inspires momentum that builds and lasts. Instead of a launch with fanfare and no follow-through, a thoughtful strategy is entirely anchored in a commitment to action toward a specific impact. It’s also sustainable because it considers flow-on effects and the wider operating and market context that will exist long past its conclusion. Feedback processes are smart and clear. Leaders know the difference between strategic adaptability and undisciplined ‘agility’.

💡 To avoid the vibe trap:

• First reflect on your previous strategy, the progress made or not, and why

• Be clear on whether you are building from your previous logic or intentionally changing direction

• Keep your analysis ‘off the page’ – it informs decisions... it doesn’t become them

• Persist until you have defined real choices – especially the arenas you will play in and how you will win in those arenas

• Test and challenge those choices to achieve a connected set of intentions

• Bake resourcing, accountability and feedback into your wider approach

• Know how you will cascade before you launch, not after

• Define your rhythms for reviewing and reporting on progress, and managing change, before you launch, not after

• Leave wordsmithing and visualisation to the end

• Leave exciting your people and market to the end