Don’t get too tied up in tactics when things get tough

Five days after seeing Myer CEO Bernie Brookes speak I am still thinking about what he had to say.

You’ve listened to me prattle on about the speed with which bad news should travel through your organisation and the importance of making back-office functions like supply chain and IT sexy, but today I want to look at what Brookes said about the difference between tactics and strategy.

To put it simply, Brookes sees strategy as the long-term plan that a company puts in place to guide its operations over the next five years. Tactics are the shorter-term measures you put in place to make this strategy a reality.

Tactics will change of course, according to the economic environment, changes in your sector and changes in your industry.

However, Brookes has a message about deviating too far from your long-term plans when the market gets difficult: “Don’t get too tactical when things get tough.”

Clearly, start-ups will do whatever it takes to get their business off the ground and those early sales flowing.

But Brookes is pointing out that there is a danger in getting too far away from your strategy by making too many changes in your business.

If your long-term strategy is to build your online sales, for example, cutting spending on web development and pumping money into short-term promotions in-store might not be good for business in the long run.

It’s a great way of thinking about your business and your current operations.

Get it done – today!