Do you remember a summer’s day when a high-school marching band lifted your spirits as it marched past during a neighborhood parade? Or perhaps you felt your heart beat a little faster as you watched a drum and bugle corps’ opening performance for your homecoming football game. The beating of the drums, the harmony of the brass, and the cadence of the color guard combined to align everyone within earshot in enthusiastic anticipation of a victorious event.
The enthusiasm was no accident. It resulted from finely orchestrated activities. The kind of activities that have been performed since ancient times, directing a course of action toward a predetermined outcome. Such events date back to when armies paraded through the streets, spirited by the cheers of enthusiastic crowds as the soldiers marched off to war. It was a strategy designed to achieve a victorious outcome. It aligned the collective activities of soldiers and spectators toward the highest and best use of finite resources. Thus, the army focused on a glorious victory as it moved doggedly toward the fulfillment of its mission. The more coordinated the effort, the more momentum that ensued.
Bruce D. Henderson, founder of the Boston Consulting Group, in an article called “The Origin of Strategy,” declared that strategy is as old as life itself. He defined strategy as, “a deliberate search for a plan of action that will develop a competitive advantage and compound it.” The term, itself, comes from the Greek word strategos, which means army, and aegin, which means to lead.
In business, strategy defines how your organization’s vision and mission will be achieved. It determines a future course of action which, in essence, translates into fulfilling your market needs technically and emotionally better than any alternative. To be sustainable, your strategy must position your business ahead of change. Remaining complacent for any length of time will cause momentum to subside. Businesses that survive the march of time determine their actions based on a persistent stream of clarifying questions. Their actions then fortify their position as they find innovative ways of executing their mission, which thus propels them forward.
Granted, the tried-and-true techniques of a drum and bugle corps may continue to rally the forces in favor of your high-school football team. However, to claim victory over the forces of change, your business strategy must also contain an element of surprise. The innovation that occurs when you ask clarifying questions will enhance your ability to surprise and delight your customers, and it will hasten your momentum.
Success Authorities helps leaders break the cycle of decision fatigue and burnout with the Questions-to-Momentum™ Flywheel – a structured path from questions to clarity, decisions, action, and sustained momentum.
