Substitute the word training with innovation.

When I read this today, I experienced deja vu.  Not only is this concept that strategy is often overlooked here in Davis' guide to Effective Training, it is stressed in every book I believe I have ever read about business planning.  

Objectives are fun to set!  Tactics are fun to make-up!  But strategies? These are skipped because the importance of deciding how you will get there is not as fun, I guess.  Unless you are like me.  

It's like planning a trip.  I want to go to Hawaii for New Year's Eve this year.  This is my objective. Tactically I am going to take a plane and, yeah, I will be there! Yes!  Done.  

Or am I?  What about how will I pay for it? What will I bring? Who will I go with?  This may start with re-defining my objective, then looking at the "paths" that will lead to that outcome.  

So, for example, my objective becomes "I want to have a wild, fun time on NYE in Hawaii." This will change the strategy of who I want to go with...if it was a relaxing time, I would take someone who is calming and low key. But if it's a wild time, my strategy would be take someone adventurous, outgoing and who likes to stay up late because it's NYE.  

The tactic would be choosing between my friend Mark, who is up for anything, versus my friend Lisa, who likes to try new things, but goes to bed early.  If I had not refined my objective, THEN determined my strategy, I may have taken Lisa, but been disappointed in the outcome.

This is true for innovation, too.  Often objectives are set and then tactics are developed via brainstorming for new products.  Very little time is spent on all the strategic paths that could be taken to reach the objectives.  Perhaps the innovation is not even needed in the products, but in the marketing approach, or distribution, or financial models.  With a dedication to the step of creating strategies, you can only improve the chances that objectives will be met. 

Another quote from the reading this week that I think I might have tattooed on my forehead so others can see it when planning either innovation or training (or how about innovation FOR training?!) -- "Tactics is the art of using troops in battle. Strategy is the art of using battles to win wars." That's a little paraphrased, but you get the gist.