Ultimate Performance: Measuring Human Resources at Work

Organization Leaders Should Focus on Objectives, Not Strategy

Our obsession with strategy is sorely misguided. Many executives make the mistake of thinking “If our strategy is clearly determined, nothing can go wrong.” That line of thinking has sunk many an outsourcing ship.

So many books, speeches, presentations, and consultants are focused on strategy. It’s no wonder that the business world has become obsessed with that word. In the foreword to a popular business book, the authors note that they always “start with the same simple question, ‘What is your strategy?’”

That should never be the first question. Putting strategy first will produce the same results as ready, fire, aim. The right order is:

1. Mission.

2. Objectives.

3. Strategy.

Strategy has always been third; never first. And the more emphasis that is put on mission and objectives, the easier it will be to develop the strategy.

“If you get the objectives right, a lieutenant can write the strategy” is most often credited to General George Marshall. He was an extraordinary military leader and the recognized architect of the Allied victory in World War II. But Marshall also believed in the importance of objectives when he was Secretary of State and architect of the rebuilding of Europe, President of the Red Cross, and Secretary of Defense. A recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, George Marshall was undisputedly one of the most effective leaders of the twentieth century.

Although military leaders are responsible for this approach, it ...