Life-in-Progress

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The Strategist Snake Oil

Posted by Alora Posted on Jul - 16 - 2009

Strategy is sexy. Operations is not.

This is often a problem in the modern business world: everyone wants to be a strategist. Aside from being seen as the best place to get to experiment with the new, fun stuff, it’s also usually seen as the side of the business with all the perks — travel, schmoozing, client dinners, etc.

In reality — whether it’s true or not — being a strategist is seen as where you want to be if you want to make more money, work less and have more fun. I know plenty of strategists who would disagree with that, but whether it’s true or not, over the years, that’s what has evolved as the image that goes along with the role — especially when it comes to the web.

And now, thanks to the social media celebrity status of strategists like Chris Brogan, Brian Solis, Charlene Li, Jeremiah Owyang, etc. it’s easy to see the addition of a minor ‘fame’ element fueling the flame of appeal that goes with the “strategist” label.

One of the most unfortunate side effects of this is that the ranks of “strategists” are often filled with snake oil salesmen who make a bigger mess than they solve, and frequently leave an organization scrambling for solutions to problems they don’t understand how to fix.

The main issue I routinely see is neglecting tactical, revenue-generating, business execution in favor of high-minded strategic vision — and, I suppose, as someone who’s made a bit of a career cleaning up after this type of mess, I suppose I shouldn’t complain about it.

But there are five critical, tactical considerations that routinely haunt organizations that find themselves in this trap:

  1. Teams Are Not Actively Managed
  2. Debates Occur, Decisions Do Not
  3. Projects Are Not Being Delivered
  4. Expectations Are Not Being Managed
  5. “Strategists” Are Seen as Frustrating Obstacles to Results

Over the next several days, I’ll be posting these details, how to spot them and then how to fix them, in order to keep the strategy sirens from luring hapless business sailors onto the rocks of doom.

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Categories: Career & Professional, Leaders, Lessons & Epiphanies
  • http://web-strategist.com/blog Jeremiah Owyang

    Pragmatic (good focus)

    I look forward to your posts. Keep in mind, that a strategist is looking at the big picture, which includes implementation, operations, process, roles, and resources –it’s not just hot air.

    Also, if you’re going to call me a snake oil salesman, don’t just infer it, just come out and say it. :) I’m happy to dialog with you about it –I practice what I preach and come from experience (ran social media at Hitachi Data System)

  • http://www.alorachistiakoff.com/ Alora

    Jeremiah:

    I fully appreciate that a GOOD strategist is looking at the big picture. And it was not my intent to imply that you (or Chris, Charlene or Brian) were snake oil salesmen. My point is that, because of the appeal of ‘social media celebrity’ status, it has helped raise the profile of the strategist role to the point where it is a highly coveted position that far too many people think is far less work than it really is. That was the source of the snake oil salesman reference: people who are riding on the coattails of strategists without putting their money where their mouth is.

    You’re entirely right: a good strategist should be looking at the complete view of what it takes to get something done. What I’m saying is that the “strategists” I continue to spend my career cleaning up after would not measure up to your standard of “good,” because they do not do that. They paint grand pictures of a sexy vision, and then neglect to inform anyone of the price tag, the work involved, the resources required, etc. That was what I meant by “snake oil salesman.” Sorry if that was not how I came across.

    ~Alora

  • http://web-strategist.com/blog Jeremiah Owyang

    Oh thanks for the clarification. that makes sense. We need both strategists and pragmatics that can identify where to go, and then get us there together.

    Thanks for taking the time to respond!

  • Pingback: There is No Strategy if You Don’t Manage Your Team | The Pragmatic Populist

  • Anonymous

    HI Alora,
    As someone who is often billed as a strategist I couldn’t agree more on this. This is particularly true in “digital” where the shifts implied in a given strategy most often carry with them enormous behavioral and structural changes. As I recently wrote – Culture eats Strategy for Breakfast.

  • http://alorachistiakoff.com/ Alora

    Therein lies the true issue, as you well know, Josh. No amount of sexy vision or newfangled strategy is really anything substantial if you don’t understand and acknowledge the culture you are working in. When I first wrote this article, that was the source of my frustration. The person I was cleaning up after thought he had his own personal little playground… so he let the weeds take over until he decided to head off to greener pastures. And then I got to be the gardener who came in and cleaned up his mess. And the more I looked around, the more I saw a series of unfortunate cliches. I never finished this series, because it quickly got too frustrating, and everything I started to write quickly turned into a rant. :-)

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