If Content is King, then Strategy is Queen. In our age of artificial intelligence, swamped by content overload the only road that leads to success is a strategic one.

But we seem to still be struggling with strategy. 

Recent research in Germany by Beyond and Haiilo revealed the size of the issue. 300 internal communication professionals were asked what held them back the most from being successful; 33% said it was a lack of strategy, or rather they didn’t have a strategy. It was missing.

For the sake of definition, strategy is knowing where you are, where you want to get to and how you’ll get there in a deliberate way. I always add in the need to be able to adjust as you go along. It sounds simple, but why do we neglect putting this down on the proverbial paper?

Is strategy a bit like broccoli—we know it is good for us but just don’t know how to make it into something tasty and desirable.

Is it because strategy is a dirty word?

Make better plans

I am hopeful that Seth Godin’s latest book This Is Strategy: Make Better Plans will make the idea more attractive. It is all about making better everyday plans for things that matter.

When eagerly opening up the cover I was surprised to find there was no easy model to follow, but rather a series of guided insights designed to make you think.

That is the problem with strategy. 

You need to think. Your brain needs to do work. It is always a multi-dimensional problem that you’re solving and never a quick-fix hammer to whack in that nail.

Is it too hard to do?

I don’t think so. But it does require an understanding of how tactics fit together into the strategy, or ideally the other way around. We also need to remember that developing a strategy requires skills like stakeholder mapping, market analysis, and long-term forecasting, which not everyone has been trained in. For those without this experience, diving into strategy can be daunting.

My simple strategy model for internal communication

This is why when I created my simple strategy model for internal communication with foundational strategy, network techniques and immersive communication I clearly showed how different, standard tactics fit into the model and could be built out into the strategy.

As an in-house and also a consultancy internal communication professional, I cannot tell you how many times I’ve had a senior leader fixate on a specific tactic as the communication solution. Over the last year as I’ve shared views from my book, I always get a laugh when I’m on stage and say “you know that moment when that leader sidles up to you and tells you that they need a video.”

It is our job to help them see how the video would fit into a complete strategy and then perhaps question if the video was the right tool needed to achieve the desired outcome with a specific audience.

Are we being boring?

Former CEO turned executive coach based in Adelaide, Australia, Matt Walsh understands the value of strategy from a business perspective, through business growth, mergers and acquisitions and also coaching others. He likens it to death by Powerpoint —something we can all identify with.

Matt said, “if strategy is boring, it’s being done wrong, or you have experienced it done poorly. It’s like too many boring Powerpoints.” One of his favourite quotes is from Henery Mintzberg “Strategy doesn't only have to position, it also has to inspire." 

For me this means making it not too long. Useful, and even pretty if it will be shared. Sprinkle in a bit of inspiration of what the result could look like.

Communication expert and CIPR leader from the United Kingdom, Katie Marlow says she was also surprised by how many teams she had come across who don't have an internal comms strategy. 

“I've heard people say it's out of date by the time it's produced, no one uses it once it is produced or there’s no leadership buy in for it as other reasons for not having a strategy,” Katie said. “I think there's often a perception that it has to be a complex and long document. What's wrong with a simple strategy on a page that keeps you focused on the work you need to do? 

She advises to “Keep your broccoli crunchy with a little creative dressing for flavour and don't overcook it.” 

Are the visionaries not executing on the theoretical beauty?

A strategy is just a vision until it is delivered. Many practitioners believe the skill is in the delivery and not the strategy. They consider simply getting SOMETHING done of quality is worthy of praise. Having worked in different, complex organisations I can see how getting through the red tape to get something great across the line, for the sake of argument, a video, is an achievement.

Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat

But as military strategist Sun Tzu said “Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.” We need both to be happening.

Global VP of Digital Marketing, Stephanie Pilon at The Adecco Group, a recruitment firm agrees, saying “strategy can sometimes become the buzz around an organisation without any real action behind it, or any connection to the actual day-to-day life of the people who are meant to implement it, quickly turning into eye-rolling jargon. Every company, product, team, department, and more need a strategy, but we also need to 'do the do' to see it through and realize the strategy’s objectives —this part takes a lot of coordination and leadership.

“In answer, I'm not sure if it's broccoli, or if sometimes it's just misguided, jargony, uncollaborative, and uncoordinated hype,” Stephanie said.

It seems like this challenge is across the board, agrees Dan Coleby, The IT Strategy Coach from Ashtead, United Kingdom.  “Strategy: a plan of action designed to achieve a long-term or overall aim.” Dan said. “Most people spend all of their time thinking about the aim and not enough time making a plan of action. Strategy is useless unless it can be implemented.” 

It sounds like we all need a bit of therapy to overcome past bad experiences with strategies that were not executed well.

Are we not communicating the importance and impact?

For some, “strategy” feels too abstract or theoretical, and is often perceived as disconnected from day-to-day work. If they've encountered strategies that didn’t pan out or felt impractical, people may see strategic planning as a waste of time.

Does your intended audience understand?

“In my experience, quite a lot of effort is put into producing and announcing "the strategy" but not enough effort is put into ensuring that the intended audience actually understands what it means in real terms. Not boring as such but the strategy can lack the context to day-to-day work because it's too high level and comes off as "something that leaders worry about" David Bowman, Product Director for Fresh Intranet, London, United Kingdom

Are we too impatient?

Many stakeholders expect quick wins. Strategy, on the other hand, can take time to show results, making it hard to justify the up-front investment of time and resources. 

Sometimes if feels like we simply don’t have time, but there have been many times where I have seen initiatives (non-strategic, without a good audience understanding) need to be re-done and re-launched, causing confusion, delay and wasted resources.

How can we make a change? 

As Seth Godin clearly articulates in This is Strategy, “People don’t do things because you want them to. They change because they want to.”

Once a die-hard all-in broccoli eater strategy lover, I’ve come to realise that sometimes you need to go for the quick tactical solution, the leader pleaser video, and manage just churning through ‘stuff’. Sneakily put it into a one pager strategy and use this piece of beauty to start the conversation on why the other ingredients of the strategy are just as delectable and combine into a more tasty, satisfying experience for your customers.

But when it gets to big ticket items, where the stakes are high, I believe it is time to double down and kick in that stakeholder management to make sure there is enough time for a robust, quality strategy.

Climate change initiatives, elections, artificial intelligence laws, layoffs, mergers and acquisitions, these are all big-ticket items that have disastrous impacts on people if the communication strategy is not wholly sound, elegant in its simplicity and effective in its execution.

In the meantime, let’s chip away, using strategic leadership, consistency, measurement, reliability and our excellent stakeholder management skills to create the environment where strategy is respected for the nutritious outcome it brings our organisations, people and bottom line.