There was one time during my travels, I was moderating an Executive round-table, the hotel meeting room was filled with high level executives from different leading companies of a particular industry, and we were all agreeing on a strategy to foster innovation on a national level.

Now for those who met me in person, knows that despite my young age already (I’m 34 by the time this article was written), I do look even younger! (which will certainly give me an advantage when I’m 50 🙂 … But unfortunately not now…). So I always “somehow” get hard times when I try to coach senior managers (who probably have grey hair) who keep telling me how their grandsons are almost my age; but I get comfortable slightly after the first 30 minutes where the echos of the appearance vanishes and we dive deeper.

That time, during the break, Couple of VPs from the workshop wanted to test my worth & knowledge and why have I got the title “Senior Strategist” and I charge so much while I’m still less than 35 yrs old. So they challenged me into Defining what Strategy was in 1 Sentence, and then Explaining it in 1 minute.

And this Week’s Tip, is about Understanding Strategy… Simply!

The Definition: Strategy is born when a calculated risk meets an educated guess

The Example: You can build a successful strategy with all its defining components using the same logic you would have when your mobile phone is Showing LOW Battery, and you’re about 1-2 hours away from any source of Charging Outlet; You Start by making educated guesses on what would your mobile be used for during that time with what actions you need to perform, along with calculating the possible risks of each action.

So Simply, here it goes, to make a strategy you can:

• Focus on what you want to achieve
• Make Educated Guesses on what you need to have/do in order for you to achieve it.
• Calculate Potential Risks on what each guess could result into.

Voila! you just built yourself a Strategy 🙂

See you next Week!
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Strategy is born when a calculated risk meets an educated guess

~Samer Chidiac

 

Samer Chidiac is a Sr. Strategist, Author & an International Innovation Expert.

The Monday Tip Weekly blog is part of the “Influencing the Life of Others” project