Strategy is one of those words that gets abused. People use it all the time when they mean something else, usually a plan or tactic. This edition of “three views of a secret” presents some different takes on what strategy is or isn’t.
Social isn’t a Strategy
A post spurred on by an online conversation between myself, Jeff Turner and Derek Overbey. In it, I include a definition of strategy and an example of how it works.
Strategy And Conflict: In re Gahlord
Rob Hahn, one of my favorite people with whom to argue about discuss these kinds of things, takes issue with the fact that my definition of strategy doesn’t rely on the existence of conflict or competition. Rob lays out a modification of my definition to create a competition-focused definition of strategy. His addendum is especially useful to review. His discussion of social capital is also useful but I think the result me not clarifying what “social” is in my original post.
Say WHAT? A Five Star Yelp Review for a Competitor?
Phoenix real estate broker Jay Thompson describes his thought process in taking a specific action using online social tool Yelp. My guess is that if we were to ask Jay whether he had a particular strategic motivation he’d say “not really.” However the thinking and actions are very relevant to the concepts of strategy, competition and social tool use.
