Why Strategy? Why Now?

A rant about why we need more focus on strategy than ever!

Jun 18, 2025

A little over 9 months back I started Strategy Shots Digest as a publication. It was only in late March that I started writing more regularly (well weekly). I wanted to write about Strategy to help bring the concept to more people but also hone my thinking and understanding of this topic by interacting with everyone here. This journey has been an enriching one and I think I am glad I started it.

I believe that right now, more than ever, is the time for corporations to be more strategic and for everyone to be aware about this idea or way of living. Which is why today I thought I would write about “Why Strategy?” and “Why now?” This is more of a rant but one I am quite passionate about :)

Why Strategy?

Well putting it in simple terms, I compare strategy to pressure. Pressure is force divided by area. I think of “force” as the “resources” of an organization and “area” as the “projects or choices” of an organization.

As we all know resources are usually limited in an organization, so to increase the pressure of the strategy you need to limit your projects or choices. The art of doing this in a manner that not only helps you to increase pressure but also apply it in the right direction is Strategy.

If you are not deploying strategy then you are pushing weakly and most probably in the wrong direction. So when you finally arrive at your destination you are tired, disoriented and most likely up for slaughter by the competition and ridicule by the customer.

Therefore it is imperative that you use strategy to your advantage to give yourself a chance to arrive fresh, focused and earlier than your competition to the delight of your customer.

But this is obvious to all of us, so my next question is Why now?

Why Now?

This is the bigger piece of my rant today.

I think there are a few epidemics at modern organizations or culture currently that make it even more important that more people think strategically than ever before. I would like to call out three of them - information epidemic, option epidemic and haste epidemic.

Information epidemic

There is a lot of information out there. A lot! More data is being generated in any organization right now than ever before. All of this data is being tracked and the overzealousness of management has led to all data being given a range in which to operate and then being officially anointed as a KPI.

Apart from quantitative data, there is also a lot more information from customers and competition. What new products are being launched? What are customers saying about the industry? Speculation on the market is rife and constant. There is a huge industry out there just to publish reports and conduct research and interviews.

This vastness of data can be overwhelming to most people. This information overload can lead to paralysis from two fronts.

a) A decision can be only taken once it is confirmed via data

b) Too many conflicting data points can stall decision as no one is sure

It is in this scenario that we need Strategy more than even to make sense of this information overload. If you set a strategic direction you will not be bothered by all datasets, every competition move and every customer insight.

You will have a focused vision and would carefully choose which datasets you need to observe, manage and influence.

E.g. You want to serve the needs of customers who like to paint their homes themselves. You will now focus on the needs of this segment, instead of the needs of the professional painters, automated painting or professional builders. You want to win in this segment by delivering the solution to their home without the need to visit a hardware store. Now you would be even more focussed as to which customers you want to talk to, what are their needs, how do they like to get colour templates at home, how should you ship samples, what should be your return policy etc. You are now focussed and so is your data set.

Strategy is a lens that helps bring clarity when viewing data sets.

Option epidemic

There are just too many options out there. Along with information comes options to do things. As a Substack creator, I have an option of creating

A newsletter on

Linkedin
Beehiv
SubStack

Start a podcast on

Spotify/Apple
Substack
Youtube

Do shorts on

Tiktok
Instagram
Substack

And so on.

I just have too many options!! and so does everyone else.

Due to this option epidemic, managers in the organization will constantly come with new ideas or move in new directions. So how do we make sure that the organization does not get into an “Option coma?”

Well Strategy comes to the rescue yet again. A well chosen strategy acts as an “Option Filter.” I will filter the options that are in line with the strategy and should be executed and stop those from getting through which are not coherent with the strategy. For this, Strategy needs to be spelt out in a manner that it helps people make everyday decisions and can be used as a true “Option Filter.”

 A well chosen strategy acts as an “Option Filter.”

Haste epidemic

“We need this done now.”

“Can we have our strategy by next week?”

The rise of instant fame and virality has led everyone to think they are running a 100m race instead of a marathon (some might even think it is a 10m dash!)

People want everything and want it instantly. So there is a haste epidemic out there. If you don’t do it quickly, you are behind. But don’t do quickly what? or why? That is indeed the question we need to ask first.

Strategy helps to reign in this haste - haste with intent is what I would propose. Yes doing things early helps (the whole first mover advantage element) but what and why and how is more important.

You can also do a lot of unnecessary stuff in haste. Take for example a common office scenario. Someone with a strong voice raises an escalation. It then shows some department in poor light. Suddenly everyone is asking it to be resolved on an urgent basis without even testing the merit of it. Now what, something more critical and core to strategy might get deprioritised because no one was intently aware of strategy. This is why a clear strategy is important to make sure that hasty decisions get a pit stop at strategic oversight to see if they should be let back on the track or not.

I will end this with a quote

“There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all.” - Peter Drucker