Strategy That Works

2

Commit to an Identity

If you asked your employees, “How do we create value for our customers?” would you get a clear answer? And would different people within your company hold the same view?

This question—how do you create value?—is the most fundamental inquiry about strategy that anyone could ask. Instead, many people think strategy has to do with choosing a direction: where are we going to grow next?

That’s why so many executives focus their attention on creating purpose and mission statements. They are trying to define where the company should go, in a way that everyone can support and that will lead to profitability and growth. But these statements tend to ring hollow because they reflect the incoherence of the company that makes them. ...