Of all the topics I’ve covered in my column, strategy is the one to which I keep coming back. Astute readers might be asking at this point, “Why?” Especially when we hear so often that “culture eats strategy for breakfast,” and other axioms that denigrate strategy. Why does Christoph keep on writing about this “outdated” topic more than others?
Even though strategy is not “fashionable” at the moment, the truth is it’s needed more now than ever: eBay, Kodak, Blockbuster, etc. all failed due to poor strategy. Harvard Business Review has found that 95% of employees don’t understand their company’s strategy, nor how they fit in. Gallup found 7 out of 10 employees are struggling this year “post-pandemic.” These things are not unrelated; in fact, they are related because of bad strategy. Bad strategy leads to over-committing to work, poor decisions and to overworking of staff.