Why being boring is your best strategy
Strategy is a word that evokes smoke filled rooms and serious people looking at maps. Who wouldn't want the glamour of strategy? But when I think of the genuinely strategic work that I've done, it hasn't been at all like that.
I've just installed a new app on my phone to help me with some of my strategic goals. It's called Goal Streaks and it's very simple. I set myself a number of tasks (like spending 20 minutes a day on personal finance paperwork) and then each day I complete the task, I'm allowed to put a cross on that day. If I complete the task on two successive days, I can draw a line between the crosses. The game is: don't break the line.
My strategic goals seem big: pay off the mortgage early, that kind of thing. And it's going well – for example I'm a few weeks in and I've already knocked years off the mortgage, thank you. Which may seem strange, since the day-to-day activities are trivial.
That's the thing about strategy. People assume that its about having complex plans and big ideas. But for me, the most effective strategies have never looked like that. Instead, it's always been about having a clear goal, a simple activity that will keep me focussed on the goal, and then the flexibility to do something that makes a difference frequently and relentlessly.
In his book 'Strategy and the Fat Smoker', David Maister points out that 'knowing what to do' is usually pretty obvious. If you're a fat smoker, then you know you ought to stop smoking and lose weight. The problem is sticking to the programme.
The same is true in business. Strategic goals are often fairly easy to arrive at (though it is worrying how often fear, confusion or politics stop teams from setting goals). Finding ways to get teams to stick to them is hard.
Which brings me back to my app. The idea is to have a small activity that I can complete in a short amount of time that will return my focus to the strategic goal. Sorting my finance paperwork won't pay off the mortgage, but it does remind me of that goal and it presents me with opportunities to make overpayments or move money into an offset savings account or any number of things that will get me to my strategic goal.
It's the same in business. A brand manager once said to me that by the time she thought customers were getting sick of a message, it was just about beginning to have an effect. She was bored by habitually repeating the same things, but they were just starting to penetrate through to customers.
It's easy to get excited and distracted by what's new or urgent. But focus – boring, monotonous focus – is what wins you the big prizes.