Strategy is a conversation

A while ago I read Tony Manning’s excellent Making Sense of Strategy. A few of his insights came back to me last night during a conversation about the importance of continuous strategic discussion inside an organisation.

Manning, on planning:

Many companies treat strategic planning as an annual rain dance, but wonderful plans don’t necessarily bring rain. Usually, they turn to dust.

On having a ‘fingertip feel’ for what is happening inside the business:

Meaningful strategic conversation requires rigorous probing into what your organization does, why, and how. But that doesn’t mean it’s exclusively a matter for top managers. The fact that they hog it in so many companies is precisely why it so often comes to nothing.

On the importance of frequent communication:

Choices, commitment, and capacity are not the products of machines. All result from people talking to each other. All come from that everyday activity - conversation - that we mostly take for granted and often use carelessly because it’s such an integral part of our lives.

If you’re not engaged in a constant conversation about what lies ahead, what it means, and what you should do about it, the world will pass you by.

And this is the key passage:

When people don’t talk about the right things - and don’t talk about them constantly, creatively, and constructively - things quickly come unglued. Parts of the organization come adrift and resources are sprayed in different directions. On the other hand, when people are informed, involved, and encouraged to speak their minds, miracles happen. Synthesis is most likely when people meet and talk face to face. So you should do everything possible to make this happen - and to make it easy.

The useful point here is that strategy is often treated as a document, when it is really a conversation. A plan can record choices, but it cannot keep an organisation aligned by itself. That work happens through repeated discussion: what is changing, what it means, what matters, and what should be done next.

This is why the annual planning ritual so often disappoints. It gives the appearance of discipline while leaving the real strategic work to a few meetings, a deck and a calendar reminder. Wonderful plans do not bring rain. People paying attention might.

If these quotes resonate, read the book.