Consulting firms are secretive So I worked in one (to learn their ways) 6 years of competitive strategy in 13 sentences:

1/ Strategy is a group of choices that position you to win, where tactics are the individual choices

2/ If the opposite of your choice is stupid, then every business should do it and you have no advantage

3/ Strategy is not choosing the best market to be in, but choosing the market where you have a clear competitive advantage

4/ Always choose your playing field and how you’ll win on that field at the same time

5/ If you have less than 20% of the market, change how you view the market to be more specific to the products /services you offer

6/ You only have a competitive advantage if your competitors can’t or won’t match you

7/ Testing the strategy’s logic is more important (and less time-consuming) than testing it with data

8/ Only analyze your strengths and weaknesses relative to your strategic choices

9/ Always consider how your competitors will respond when you execute your strategy

10/ You don’t need strategy if there’s no gap between where you are today and where you want your company to be in the future

11/ Don't confuse strategy and planning: strategy is a group of choices that position your business to win, where planning is figuring out how to make it happen

12/ Strategic choices happen at every level of a business, longer-term choices in upper levels, and day-to-day choices in lower levels

13/ Strategy is relative to your goals - give someone the tactics to execute your strategy and your tactics have now become their strategy

TL;DR • When you don't need strategy • Competitor response • Strategy vs planning • Strategy at all levels • Choose to compete • Choose advantage • Stupid opposites • Relative strategy • Useless SWOTs • Define strategy • Define market • Can’t or won’t • Test logic

That's a wrap! If you enjoyed this thread: 1. Follow me @Brian O'Connor | Fractional CMO for more on competitive advantage 2. RT the tweet below to help your audience think strategically https://x.com/BrianFOConnor/status/1536336113572397059…