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BE STRATEGICALLY TACTICAL
How do you marry the fast moving and unpredictable world of social media with the corporate desire to strategize?
Strategizing tends to be done by a small group of very senior people backed up by hordes of outsiders from the big consultancy firms. They have a vested interest in convincing you and themselves that they are in control and know what is happening. This very conceit is madness. Strategy is one of those pompous grown-up words that no one questions. It confers on those who take part in strategizing almost mystical powers. Being allowed into that inner sanctum of those determining the future direction of the business is your average MBA’s fantasy. But how often does anyone go back and see whether the strategy turned out to be right? How often does anyone do an ROI calculation of the costs of producing the strategy in the first place?
Let’s face it – most strategies don’t work. I don’t just mean social media strategies – I mean all strategies. Given the time taken to recruit consultants, do the research, analyze the results, work out and negotiate the strategy, and then write and publish it, most of them are not worth the paper they are written on. The world has changed too fast and it now doesn’t look like you thought it would. You’ve encased your expectations in the organizational concrete of an enterprise resource planning tool and the cracks are already starting to show. You have to start all over again … Don’t get me wrong – the process ...
