Most enterprises have strategic objectives, but few benefit from their strategies. They invest a significant amount of human and material resources in formulating strategic plans. After studying many corporate strategic issues, I have found that to avoid strategy becoming mere decoration, we must do the following three things.

Key Point One: A Suitable Set of Systems

What is strategy? This question has many dazzling explanations, and corporate leaders have their own understandings, but they often equate their own ideas with strategy, which is also the main reason why strategic work only stays at the top level.

Corporate strategy is a series of actions aimed at winning the core challenges of the future. It should be a well-developed system, including vision, objectives, identification of problems and opportunities, work plans, and the matching of resources, etc.

From the perspective of systems theory, any system has three components: elements, connections, and purpose or function. For example, a pile of sand cannot be called a system, only a system "pile" because there is no connection between its elements, nor a common purpose.

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Many enterprises have become "sand piles" that look stable when there are no internal and external forces, but if you dig a small corner, the entire corner "pile" will collapse.

Therefore, strategy can be attributed not only to a vision or a series of objectives but also to a system that includes objectives, analysis (internal strengths and weaknesses, external opportunities and challenges, etc.), action plans, and resources, none of which can alone constitute a strategy.

Key Point Two: Proactive ChoicesExceptional leaders must continuously learn from the market, customers, and trends, assess the feasibility of the original strategy and implementation plans, and make timely adjustments. A very important characteristic of a good strategic system is the ability to adapt to changes! A planner with ten years of financial experience at the company offered other opinions. Based on the cases she had previously handled, she specifically created an e-book for the company's development titled "520" - a gift to you: "50+ Industrial White Papers."

Many enterprises' strategic choices are reactive. Often, business bottlenecks and risks emerge before considering if there are better directions. However, a good strategy is not based on compromise with reality but on the optimal choice for core challenges. The term "optimal" is relative, meaning that one should try to analyze the environment and one's capabilities as much as possible.

Some companies have always believed they have a strategy, with the goal of "becoming the industry leader." However, in recent years, they have not even made it into the top three. In fact, they have set four or five strategic goals within a year. Even the employees find it amusing, feeling that the strategy has changed but without any improvement.

There is a significant difference between proactive and reactive choices. Proactivity is always much easier than reactivity. Moreover, considering various possibilities for the implementation path, they will pay more attention to the chosen goals, while reactive choices are often hasty, immature, and one-sided.

Key Point Three: Be True to Yourself

If you are like two peas in a pod, you will inevitably be on the same track as your competitors. A good strategy is to have non-replicable uniqueness, be yourself, have style, and create market value.

Nowadays, many enterprises are learning from benchmark companies, such as Huawei, which is oriented towards hard work, customer-centric, and focuses on the main channels. These are all excellent strategic concepts. However, there are various methods and concepts, but no unified systematic thinking. If we put them all together, we will fall into confusion.

In fact, the true strategy is not obtained through imitation and analysis but comes from the leader's "thoughts" or "original intention." Only with one's own ingredients can there be genuine motivation for environmental analysis and strategic path exploration.

For example, being customer-centric, Huawei's approach may not all be suitable for you. You must interpret how to be customer-centric and extract your own practices based on your own organizational development stage and characteristics, business attributes, and market environment.Regardless of whether the size of a business organization is large or small, it should have a strategic system. This is not the traditional perception of being "intangible and elusive." Our goal is not just the persistent pursuit of leaders, nor is it a decoration that consumes a lot of manpower and resources. This is the core challenge that the entire organization needs to address in order to achieve sustainable and positive development. The strategy identifies it and matches it with a series of effective actions, creating greater value by overcoming and facing new challenges!