A strategy document that nobody reads is not a strategy. It is a record of time spent. Most organisations produce at least one of these per year, and most of the people who commissioned them know, somewhere, that the document will not change much. Here is why that happens, and what the alternative looks like.
The Slide Deck Problem ¶
The most common format for strategic deliverables is the slide deck. This is a problem. A slide deck is designed to be presented, not read. It relies on the presenter to supply the connective tissue between slides, to explain the logic, to add the caveats. Without the presenter in the room, a slide deck is a series of assertions with no argument. When a board member reads it alone on a Sunday evening before a Monday meeting, they are reading the skeleton of a case, not the case itself.
Vagueness as a Defence Mechanism ¶
Strategy documents are often vague because vagueness is safe. A document that says 'we will pursue growth in adjacent markets' cannot be wrong. It also cannot be acted on. The vagueness is usually not accidental. It reflects a genuine disagreement that was not resolved in the process of writing the document, and the document has been written around the disagreement rather than through it. The result is a text that everyone can sign off on and nobody can use.
The Audience Problem ¶
Most strategy documents are written for the person who commissioned them, not for the people who need to act on them. The language, the level of detail, and the structure all reflect the priorities of the senior leader who asked for the work, not the operational reality of the people who will be expected to change their behaviour as a result. A document that is not written for its actual audience will not change the behaviour of its actual audience.
What a Useful Strategy Document Actually Contains ¶
A useful strategy document contains a clear account of the current situation, including the uncomfortable parts. It contains a small number of explicit choices, written as choices rather than as intentions. It contains the reasoning behind those choices, including the alternatives that were considered and rejected. And it contains a clear account of what will be different as a result of the choices made. That is not a long document. It is a precise one.
The Revision Problem ¶
Strategy documents are often revised until they are no longer true. The first draft, written close to the actual thinking, tends to be the most honest. Each subsequent revision tends to smooth away the edges, soften the conclusions, and add the qualifications that make the document acceptable to more people. By the time it is approved, it may no longer reflect what anyone actually believes. The discipline of writing a document that is honest enough to be useful requires protecting the first draft from the revision process.
If you have a strategy document that is not doing the work it was meant to do, a Written Strategy Review is a useful starting point. We read it carefully and return a frank commentary within five working days.