In a recent survey of senior executives, less than a quarter reported that they made impactful, strategic decisions during their strategic planning process. This figure is staggering—over 75% of corporate strategy programs fail to drive any real progress toward their strategic goals. For most businesses, this is a colossal waste of time, money, and resources.
The reason behind this dismal statistic is that “strategic planning” has become an oxymoron. Attempting to blend the concepts of strategy and planning is counterproductive. Strategy and planning, although intertwined, are distinct tasks, each with its own purpose. When they are forced into the same process, planning tends to dominate, resulting in a focus on short-term targets rather than the big, bold decisions that truly drive business growth.
The Pitfall of a Planning-Led Approach
Most organisations approach strategy with a planning-led mindset. Typically, the process kicks off with setting a growth target for the upcoming fiscal year or two, a target often dictated by the finance team. The discussions rapidly narrow down to an incremental budgeting exercise, where even minor details—like setting the gross margin target to 32.4% versus 32.5%—become the focal point. This approach, while useful for operational control, falls short when it comes to fostering meaningful strategic growth.
The issue here is that a planning-led approach looks primarily at the business from a “today-forward” perspective. This perspective restricts vision and focuses narrowly on making slight improvements to current metrics. The focus is on how to do what you’re doing now just a bit better. In doing so, organisations often overlook the more significant questions they should be asking about their future.
A planning-led process can be likened to trying to drive a car by only looking in the rearview mirror. You might be able to make incremental adjustments, but you’re unlikely to make any significant progress toward a new and exciting destination. Planning-led companies miss out on opportunities to ask the bold questions: What do we want our business to look like in five years? Which markets do we want to lead? What competitive advantages can we cultivate to become an industry leader?
Why a Strategy-Led Approach Drives High Growth
In contrast, a strategy-led approach takes a “future-back” perspective, putting big-picture goals and growth front and center. This method empowers executive teams to grapple with and shape the business’s future, rather than simply reacting to it. By focusing first on where you want to go and then working backward, the strategy-led approach is all about transforming high-level aspirations into concrete plans for growth.
A strategy-led process starts by identifying the major challenges and opportunities facing the business. This means having tough but essential conversations around core topics like market positioning, product diversification, customer segmentation, and competitive advantages. From there, organisations can design the kind of company they need to become to achieve those goals, considering aspects like market expansion, talent acquisition, and even potential acquisitions to secure the capabilities needed for success.
This approach provides the latitude to make bold decisions that go beyond incremental gains. Decisions like entering a new geographical market, acquiring a new technology, or pursuing an untapped customer segment are within reach. When you begin with a strategy-led mindset, you open the door to possibilities that would be impossible to consider in a planning-led framework.
Implementing a Strategy-Led Approach in Your Business
Switching from a planning-led to a strategy-led approach isn’t just about changing your planning process—it’s about reshaping how your organisation thinks about growth. Here’s how you can start implementing a strategy-led approach to drive high growth:
- Set Clear Strategic Intentions: Define where you want your business to go, not just in terms of financial targets, but in terms of market position, customer base, and competitive advantage. This vision should be ambitious and far-reaching enough to excite your team and stakeholders.
- Identify Key Growth Opportunities and Challenges: Ask yourself the big questions. What markets should you be in? How can you outmaneuver your competitors? What capabilities or resources are essential to win in those markets? This process often requires stepping out of your comfort zone to explore new horizons and take calculated risks.
- Map Out Your Strategic Priorities: Once you have a clear direction, break down that strategy into actionable priorities. Think in terms of transformative goals—those that require a significant change in direction or investment. These priorities should challenge the status quo and push your business toward substantial growth.
- Align Your Team and Resources: Ensure that your team understands the strategy and how their roles contribute to its success. High-growth strategies require more than just buy-in; they demand alignment across the organisation. This means allocating resources, talent, and time toward strategic initiatives rather than merely operational tasks.
- Adopt a Dynamic Planning Process: Traditional annual planning cycles are not agile enough to accommodate a strategy-led approach. Instead, consider a more flexible, continuous planning process that allows you to adapt as new information and opportunities arise. A high-growth business should be able to pivot quickly when the strategic landscape changes.
The High Growth Impact of Strategy-Led Thinking
By prioritising a strategy-led approach, you’re positioning your business to achieve high growth. You’re not just moving incrementally forward; you’re creating the conditions for quantum leaps in progress. Rather than focusing on short-term gains, you’re setting your sights on long-term success, shaping the market, and building a future-focused organisation.
Making this shift is about more than just improving your annual results. It’s about transforming your business into a high-growth powerhouse capable of setting—and achieving—big, bold goals. Take control of your future and unleash the full potential of your business with a strategy-led approach. Your path to high growth begins with the decision to think strategically, lead decisively, and act boldly.
