You would think that having written articles and given talks about my Tricksy Words concept (aka words whose dictionary definition is insufficient to ensure that everyone understands what is being discussed in a given context), that I would be pretty good at spotting them and then avoiding the confusion that results from their use. Sadly, awareness is necessary but insufficient for such immunity. 

Take, for example, the words “Strategy” and “Tactics”. People often ask me if my consulting work is more Strategic or Tactical in nature and for the first few years as a consultant, I was adamant that my work was tactical rather than strategic. However, I have come to realize that Operating Models are actually very strategic! They just also happen to be more tactical than an overall business strategy. Which leaves me at a bit of an impasse because “both” is rarely the answer my well-intentioned questioners are seeking.

I know it is cliched to include the dictionary definitions in an article but since that is literally part of my algorithm for defining Tricksy Words, please bear with me for a moment. If we use the Cambridge Dictionary, the definitions for Strategy and Tactics are as follows:

Strategy: a detailed plan for achieving success in situations such as war, politics, business, industry, or sports, or the skill of planning for such situations

Tactic: a planned way of doing something

So, what exactly is the difference between a plan for achieving success and a planned way of doing something? I must admit that I have no idea!

Honestly, it was kind of a relief to look up these definitions and realize that there really is a universe of room left open for interpretation in distinguishing between the two concepts but it was less of a surprise than it might have been a few weeks ago. In writing last month’s article, I found myself continuously struggling to articulate the distinction between strategy and tactics so I started asking others more detailed questions about how they approached these ideas. It turned out that everyone I spoke to had also, at least at some point, experienced some confusion about whether a particular situation or plan fell into the strategic or tactical bucket.

I also spent some time poking around the internet for definitions and explanations that focused on the differences between Strategy and Tactics, which mostly yielded variations on this sentiment from LucidSpark: “Strategy: A plan to achieve a goal is strategy. Tactics: Actions taken to achieve that goal”. This is a bit more useful but as anyone who has ever been part of annual planning or a performance management system knows, “Goals” can themselves range wildly from global to granular in nature.

Nonetheless, I think that this distinction allows me to come, at long last, to the primary point of this article: I firmly believe that what is “strategic” and what is “tactical” is actually situationally dependent. This means that the exact same concept might be considered a Goal in and of itself, a Plan for achieving a goal, or a Step for achieving a plan. 

Which brings me back to the question that kicked off this entire line of inquiry to begin with: how do I describe the work that Belleview Consulting does in these terms? Let’s start by positing that the Mission and Vision of an organization are the broadest, most global Goals a company or nonprofit will have. I can say with some confidence that an Operating Model probably shouldn’t be the broadest, most global strategy a particular company is following to achieve the Mission and Vision. There should almost certainly be at least one level of Strategy between the Mission and Vision of an organization and the Operating Model and so in this context, an Operating Model is a tactic leveraged by the organization in support of their top line strategies.

This is important because there are almost always a wide array of different paths an organization could follow to achieve their Mission and Vision. If setting such high level strategies were easy, the market for strategic consulting firms would be far smaller than the current ~$45M. Without knowing which strategy a particular organization plans to follow in pursuit of their Mission and Vision, it is impossible to create the Operating Model that will best serve that Strategy.

At the same time, designing and implementing an effective Operating Model can be a great strategy for achieving common efficiency and engagement goals, such as profit margin targets or employee pulse survey responses. Such goals are often held at the highest levels of the organization so when viewed through the lens of tangible goals that are one or two steps more granular than the Mission and Vision, Operating Models suddenly become quite strategic in nature.

All of which leaves me with clarity of thought and an ongoing lack of clarity about the “correct” answer to the initial question. For now, I have landed on one of two approaches: 1) try to match the level of abstraction of the inquirer and 2) just use more words. 

Sometimes, it is very clear where the person asking me the question “lives” in their own thinking. If I am speaking to someone on the board of a nonprofit who has just come from an annual planning retreat or a strategic advisor who specializes in refining Mission and Vision statements, I can be confident that they will consider my work tactical. If I am speaking to someone who focuses on the dynamics within a given team or specializes in a particular function, such as sales, I am probably best off just referring to my work as strategic. When in doubt, however, I simply take the extra 30 seconds to note that my work is fairly high level but still a layer or two down from the broadest strategies in an organization. 

As you have probably noticed by now, this month’s article is more of a reflection than a particular recommendation but I do have at least one suggestion. If you find yourself referring to Strategy or Tactics in the future, it is worth the time and energy to also reference the goal or context within which you are speaking. This is particularly true when you are responding to someone else’s use of the words as this is an opportunity to make sure you are using the same words to mean the same things.

And if all else fails, simply remembering that Strategy and Tactics are Tricksy Words gives you just that slightest edge of protection against miscommunication. I’ll keep my fingers crossed that such awareness will save you time and heartache in the future!