Blacksmith Marketing Consultancy on LinkedIn: OUR MANTRA! • Vision is the grand ambition • Strategy is the master plan… (2025)

Vision work without a current state assessment is tactics without a strategy.I prefer jumping ahead to the vision setting part…This is my least favorite part. Having the honest review of the current state of the business.Without it:I end up generating a lot of activity.It will look like it is in support of something.But there is no intentionality to it.There is no congruence to all of the activity.So do your current state assessment.Identify options for closing the gap.Then you can make better strategic decisions.Because that’s essentially all strategy is, the options you’ve prioritized for achieving the goals.Strategy is only complicated if we don’t know where we are or where we’re going.

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Your strategic plan is finished! Vision set, action planned, success measures developed. Now, the real challenge: execution, a common struggle for many. Why do plans often end up neglected? Our thoughts on why, and ideas to ensure your plan pays off:
bit.ly/47M92XY

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Most definitions of strategy you've likely encountered focus on business strategy. However, that is a very limited definition of strategy (and hence the confusion), akin to saying that the definition of Music is Rock. According to most great commanders, strategists, emperors, kings, and generals throughout history, Alexander is universally hailed as the greatest strategist of all time.Do you know what strategy is?I invite you to discover what strategy is, once and for all, directly from the mind of the greatest strategist of all time. You will be able to apply the Fundamental Principles of the Art of the Strategos into business, sports, life and all your decision making processes.

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We often hear from clients that their last strategic plan sat untouched after it was approved by their board. After going through the planning process, it felt daunting to jump into the work. Did we just give our staff a second full-time job with these projects? Execution is expensive - it requires money, staff, and (mostly importantly, in my opinion) headspace. But your mission is important. And hard things are worth doing. Check out this article Steve Beshuk and I wrote about putting your strategic plan into action.

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Successful strategy is tangible.Setting goals can be challenging, but finding out the best approach to achieve these goals is an even bigger challenge. How can you know what is best, before doing it?The short answer: you don’t. The key lies in testing strategies, learning and improving. To test a strategy, it has to be made tangible.The sooner you give shape to your strategy through a sketch, process, prototype and so on, the sooner you will find out if it resonates with your employees and customers. You will be able to pinpoint your challenges and start to overcome them. Along the way, you will create momentum in your organisation and prepare your employees for change.Get in touch to find out what tangible strategy can do for your organisation.

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Knowing the difference between Planning & Strategy can lead to greater organizational success. It is time to critically reassess what is (or isn't) "Strategic Planning" 🤔 https://lnkd.in/gKV9HfKv

🌟 Adding That Extra Touch: Transforming Ordinary to Extraordinary 🌟The difference between ordinary and extraordinary lies in that little extra effort. Whether it's going the extra mile for a client or refining a process for efficiency, small actions can yield remarkable results. Embrace the opportunity to innovate and elevate your work. In every endeavor, strive to add that extra touch—it's the essence of achieving greatness.👉 Elevate your work with that little extra to create extraordinary outcomes! 👈#Planning #Strategy #BusinessTips #Processsetting

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Planning sets the direction, STRATEGY leads the way!🤔 This insight, which resonates deeply with the core principles of the course, has fundamentally shifted my perspective on the interplay between planning and strategy in a business context; therefore, I want to share my view with this post.💡 After watching this video by Prof Roger, I even built up my thought that it's a critical distinction between Strategy and Planning that often gets blurred in the hustle of day-to-day business operations; while planning is about setting steps and defining how to achieve goals, strategy is about choosing the right goals in the first place. It's about understanding the landscape, anticipating changes, and positioning ourselves not just to react, but to proactively seize opportunities.⚡ Let's view it like this: Good strategy is choosing the correct way to go for your business to win in your chosen market, and planning is the bricks you put down to build the road that you choose. Therefore, is strategic planning focused on planning, or it is really about focusing on choosing a strategy first and only at that time, does the team start developing a plan?After reflecting for myself, I am co-founder ofARIS, an augmented reality solution for businesses, which we are proud to tackle on a Bule Ocean. We have had our clear plan, but whether we really have a strategy yet? And even if it is important for a start-up to use resources to come up with the strategy?🚨 This post is only my personal thoughts for Strategic Management Course reflection; I am more than happy to hear comments for me to brighten up my mindset!I believe the line between strategy and planning sometimes becomes blurry for small businesses, and it did clear my mind after watching this video I mentioned by Prof. Roger: https://lnkd.in/gh_fk3y9#StrategicManagement #VinUni #Hotelier #HospitalityEnthusiast #Reflection

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How do you define a strategy? By selection or elimination?Strategy is about choosing a direction as well as deciding on the many things you will not do.Having doubts in the process is expected and desired. Brainstorming, discussing, and challenging the strategy only makes it stronger. It allows to identify risks and opportunities. It also ensures alignment, acceptance, and commitment from those involved.#strategy

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Are you a visionary? Someone needs to be! Without this key role businesses are at risk to stay right where they are…which may not be bad…but is it your best?When you have the right systems in place, the employees keyed in on the values of the company, everyone moving in the same unified direction the visionary can come to life!Take a look around your place and take note of what you see. Do you have space to strategic plan, or are you always putting out fires? If it’s not the first scenario it might be time to take a deeper look at your organization.Your time is valuable and you should want it to work the best for your company!

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