I keep seeing things described as strategic:
– Strategic actions
– Strategic tactics
– Strategic initiatives
– Strategic objectives
– Strategic procurement
– A strategic implementation plan
– A strategic evaluation plan.
My tipping point last week was a ‘strategic internal audit plan’.
Does putting ‘strategic’ in front give the words more weight? I think not.
Just as tools and templates are not a strategy, calling something strategic does not make it so. It’s a meaningless modifier that adds bulk but no substance.
Each of the above words is perfectly fine without the precursor.
In Good Strategy, Bad Strategy, Richard Rumelt writes that fluff is a characteristic of bad strategy. He calls fluff “a form of gibberish masquerading as strategic concepts or arguments […] to create the illusion of high-level thinking”.
When the word strategic is over-used, it becomes fluff. Let’s not do it.