So why is it difficult for a company to decide on its objectives?
Often times, it is because there are so many possible options and objectives that seem 'reasonable'.
Let's take our example from my last entry....
Hypothetically, we are developing a strategy for a software company that is established in a relatively mature market; i.e the desktop application market. For illustration purposes, we are the number three provider of our class/type of software. We have approximately 20% market-share. The leader in the category has ~50% share. The second largest provider commands a ~30% share.
So, what constitutes victory?
Is it increasing market share above 25%?
Is it attaining the number two position in the market place?
Is it attaining the number one position in the market?
Is it establishing a monopoly in the market?
We could continue listing options, but the fact that four come immediately to mind should suffice.
So which should we pick? I'll give you a hint; what we pick doesn't matter... Yet.
Before we can settle on what our definition of victory is, we need to understand both our capabilities and our competitor's capabilities and intentions.
A Capability is a Measure of the ability of an entity (department, organization, person, system) to achieve its objectives, specially in relation to its overall mission.
Having an honest assessment of our own capabilities will help us narrow plans to those actions that we are confident in being able to complete.
Having a realistic view of our competitors capabilities will allow us to determine both their possible intentions as well as their ability to carry out those intentions.
The last area of focus, before determining what victory or success looks like is to assess the marketplace and business environment. Depending on the regulatory environment, it his highly unlikely that achieving monopoly status would be a good thing. Similarly, emerging technology trends may limit or diminish our capabilities, so we need to account for them in our plans.
Creating a synthesized view of the environment, our competitors capabilities and intentions, and our own capabilities will let us agree on a goal, and start building a strategy to accomplish it.