“Well, I’m not sure where you got your information, but everything is just fine. We continue to innovate in a customer-centric way to leverage our core competencies and provide shareholder value” said Carla from the C-Suite.

“My good lady,” interjected Dr. Tactics, “it’s obvious that someone sitting at this table has committed Strategycide. It’s the number one cause of bankruptcy you know. So if you’d like to continue to have an organization to lead, I’d suggest you cooperate. Now, we’d like to ask the group some questions.”

“Very well, let’s begin,” said Strategylock. “Marsha, from marketing, where were you when the strategy was killed?”

“I was presenting my brand plan to the group. We’re trying to price to a premium product and still grow market share by 7% a year. In order to do that, we’ve expanded our customer base to include small, medium and large companies. We use the list of 24 priorities from Carla and her general managers to guide our projects,” answered Marsha.

“I see. Steve, from sales, do you have an alibi?” asked Strategylock.

“Absolutely. My team has helped Marsha by aggressively contracting and cutting prices where ever we need to in order to get the business. I was on the phone at the time giving one of my reps the go-ahead to lower our price by another 10% to pick up a new account,” said Steve.

“Hmmm. Very interesting. Hannah, from HR, can you tell us your role in all of this?” asked Strategylock.

“I was busy assisting four different departments with administrative tasks. While they aren’t really activities the HR group should be doing, we are team players and want to be as responsive as possible to our colleague’s needs,” said Hannah.

“That brings us to Frank, in Finance. What do you have to add?” questioned Dr. Tactics.

“Look. Somebody has to reign in all the spending that goes on around here. We don’t have money trees growing out back. I was talking to the group about a 20% cost reduction across the board to put us on firmer financial footing. In case you haven’t noticed, the economy’s still down and we have to be prepared to weather the storm,” said Frank.

“Oscar, from operations, please tell us what you were doing at the time of the murder,” asked Strategylock.

“As you know, I head up operations, so I don’t even touch strategy. That’s not my job. I’m a Six Sigma Black Belt and have implemented a lean initiative to trim the fat around here. We’ve made great strides in creating more efficient processes in all areas, including innovation and R&D,” added Oscar.

“Which brings us to Roger in R&D. What do you make of all this?” quizzed Strategylock.

“Our group is charged with bringing new products to market. I can’t speak about the strategy in marketing or sales or HR, because we only talk to them about their plans once a year at the off-site meeting. All I know is that our strategy is to make great products,” said Roger.

Strategylock proceeded. “Quite right, Tactics. At first, we suspected that there was just one person responsible for the death of this strategy. But as Dr. Tactics and I pieced together the clues, we uncovered a web of wrongdoing. And it begins at the top. Carla from the C-Suite, you’ve hidden behind meaningless jargon and a laundry list of 24 initiatives to avoid making any real strategic decisions.”

“Marsha from marketing, you’ve lost focus in the fool’s gold pursuit of serving every type of customer out there just to capture market share,” continued Strategylock. “Growth for growth’s sake is a shot through strategy’s heart.”

“Steve, from sales, you’ve poisoned the strategy by selling on price, inadvertently making that the customer’s primary decision factor. It goes against the premium brand that marketing has been trying to communicate to your potential clients.”

Dr. Tactics followed. “Hannah, from HR, your well-intentioned, but misguided use of the most precious resource – time – has sabotaged your group’s ability to add great value to the business. Wasting time on activities that aren’t your responsibility and don’t add great value slowly suffocated the strategy.”

“And let’s not forget Frank from finance. While managing cash flow and ensuring profitability is of paramount importance, taking a cookie-cutter approach to reducing costs across the board drowned the strategy in the mediocrity that comes from being spread too thin,” said Strategylock.

“Oscar from operations, strategy is everyone’s responsibility. How you and your team allocate your time, talent and budget is a strategic action in itself. Operational effectiveness and lean initiatives are important, but without the differentiated activities to create and market unique offerings, the strategy was decapitated.”

“Finally, Roger from R&D. We need to remember that making great products is a goal, not a strategy. This intertwining of basic business terms is a sure way to stab strategy in the back,” concluded Dr. Tactics.

As the leadership team sat silently and digested the detective’s account of the Strategycide, the dead strategy was removed from the table, zipped up into a black body bag and carted away.

“Before we bid you adieu, Tactics and I would like to leave you with ten questions to consider that may determine the fate of your next strategy”:
1. Does everyone in your company have the same definition of strategy? Yes | No
2. Do people understand the difference between goals, objectives, strategies and tactics? Yes | No
3. Have the different groups in the organization clearly defined their goals and shared them with others? Yes | No
4. Do you clearly communicate your product/service points of differentiation that customer’s value? Yes | No
5. Is your group performing different activities than the competition or at least performing similar activities in different ways? Yes | No
6. Is your group using practical tools to identify and prioritize new opportunities to grow the business? Yes | No
7. Do people make strategic trade-offs by specifically choosing the things they are not going to do? Yes | No
8. Does the written strategic plan actually drive people’s day-to-day activities? Yes | No
9. Is there consistent, periodic communication between different functional groups to discuss and align strategies? Yes | No
10. Are you confident in your group’s strategy? Yes | No

Strategylock concluded, “Scoring less than seven yeses means that strategy is anything but elementary, my dear Tactics.”