Strategy

Better Strategists. Better Strategy.

The quality of your strategy depends on the quality of your strategists.

Here's what separates good strategists from great ones — and how to develop the craft.

The Strategist's Job

At its core, strategy is about making choices. Good strategists help organizations:

  • See clearly: What's really going on?
  • Choose wisely: What should we do about it?
  • Act decisively: How do we make it happen?

That sounds simple. It isn't.

What Good Looks Like

I've worked with hundreds of strategists over my career. The great ones share a few traits:

  1. Intellectual Curiosity

They're genuinely interested in how things work — businesses, people, culture, technology. They read widely. They ask questions. They never assume they know enough.

  1. Rigorous Thinking

They can hold complexity without oversimplifying. They know the difference between correlation and causation. They pressure-test their own ideas.

  1. Creative Instinct

Strategy isn't just analysis. It's imagination. Great strategists can see possibilities others miss. They connect dots in unexpected ways.

  1. Communication Clarity

The best strategy is worthless if no one understands it. Great strategists make the complex simple. They tell stories, not just present slides.

  1. Commercial Pragmatism

Strategy has to work in the real world. Great strategists understand business constraints — budgets, timelines, organizational politics — and work within them.

How to Get Better

  1. Write More

Writing forces clarity. If you can't write it clearly, you don't understand it clearly. Start a newsletter. Keep a strategy journal. Write case studies.

  1. Study Other Fields

The best ideas often come from outside marketing. Read military strategy, behavioral economics, design thinking, systems theory. Cross-pollinate.

  1. Seek Feedback

Find mentors and peers who will tell you the truth. Present your work. Ask what's missing. Listen to the critique.

  1. Build a Point of View

Great strategists have opinions. They've thought deeply about their craft and can articulate what they believe. What's your strategic philosophy?

  1. Do the Work

There's no shortcut. You get better by doing strategy — lots of it, across different categories and challenges. Reps matter.

The Agency Problem

Many agencies underinvest in strategy. They hire junior planners, burn them out, and wonder why the work is mediocre.

Great agencies do the opposite:

  • They pay strategists well
  • They give them time to think
  • They celebrate strategic craft
  • They create career paths for planners

The result? Better work. Better clients. Better retention.

Bottom Line

Strategy is a craft. Like any craft, it can be developed.

But it requires intention, practice, and a commitment to continuous improvement.

Invest in your strategists. The work will follow.

What's made the biggest difference in your development as a strategist? I'd love to hear what's worked for you.