As a last ditch effort to survive, Strategyman shouted, “Being #1 in the market is not a strategy! You can’t be all things to all people! Well-executed tactics don’t make up for nonexistent strategy!”

“Noooooo!” yelled Dr. Tacticalpus. Megaolslides and The Same covered their ears and writhed on the floor in pain. The sonic blasts of strategy truisms were too much for the villains. Just then the Jargon Goblin appeared outside the window on his jargon glider. As the three supervillains jumped aboard, Jargon Goblin said, “You may have won this time Strategyman. But we’ll convene an all-hands off-site meeting, use our intellectual bandwidth to create a consensusdriven mission, leverage synergies and outsource your @#$% to China!”

With that, the super villains zoomed away. Strategyman stared out into the moonlit night. So many companies. So little strategy. But the fight must go on.

As you work to profitably grow your business and create competitive advantage, you’ll run into the same villains Strategyman did:
1. Megalo-slides: making strategy overly complex and too big to reasonably manage or execute.
2. Dr. Tacticalpus: gravitating too quickly to tactics and getting caught in the weeds of the business.
3. The Same: losing sight of the differentiated value you can provide to customers and doing the same things in the same ways as everyone else.

1. At the heart of business strategy is:
A. The intelligent allocation of limited resources.
B. Distributing resources across all potential growth opportunities.
C. Working to be better and faster than the competition.

2. Successful business strategy is about:
A. Being better than the competition.
B. Having the “right people on the bus.”
C. Providing differentiated value to customers.

3. The three disciplines of strategic thinking are:
A. People, strategy and process.
B. Customer focus, service and product leadership.
C. Acumen, allocation and action.

4. A goal is:
A. The current purpose of the organization.
B. The general outcome you’re trying to achieve.
C. The specific outcome you’re trying to achieve.

5. An objective is:
A. The specific outcome you’re trying to achieve.
B. The future purpose of the organization.
C. The general outcome you’re trying to achieve.

6. Goals and objectives represent:
A. How you will achieve your mission and vision.
B. What you are trying to achieve.
C. The tactical means of achieving business success.

7. Strategy and tactics represent:
A. How you will achieve your goals and objectives.
B. Long and short term goals.
C. A balanced scorecard indicating business performance.

8. Strategic thinking can be defined as:
A. Annual process for creating a strategic plan.
B. The ability to generate business insights on a continual basis.
C. Using SWOT Analysis to identify opportunities and threats.

9. Effective strategy depends just as much on:
A. Tactics as it does goals and objectives.
B. The economy as it does on your core competencies.
C. What you choose not to do as it does on what you choose to do.

10. Good strategy requires managers to:
A. Not be all things to all people.
B. Serve as many customers as possible.
C. Develop an exit strategy for the business.

So how many do you think you had right? How many do you think the rest of the folks you work with would have right? To find out the correct answers, visit www.strategyskills.com and click “Strategy Blog,” on the menu bar and see the “Strategic Thinker or Strategyless?” entry. The first step in developing great strategic initiatives is developing great strategists. So many companies. So little strategy. But the fight must go on. Look, up in the office! It’s an employee. It’s an associate. It’s Strategyman!