Why does Strategy fail? Taking beggar as a gentleman and giving away money!

Theoretically, strategy looks so simple that many businesspersons call it common sense.

However, there are so many strategic failures in the business world today, which echoes the popular quote by Voltaire, "Common sense is not so common."

One of the reasons behind the failure of strategy is poor work with assumptions and predictions.

Like in Physics, where the physical environment always moves towards more randomness or entropy increases, same things happen in the business world.

The business environment is changing with such a rapid pace, it is becoming increasingly difficult to predict the future and any assumptions or predictions must be taken with a pinch of salt.

The great Peter Drucker once said that ‘one should avoid making predictions about future and if forced to make a prediction, the prediction should be for a time span longer than one’s life, so that even if it goes wrong, no one can catch you!’

The strategic humour story “Why does Strategy Fail? - Taking a beggar as a gentleman giving away money!” stresses the importance of making correct assumptions and predictions for strategy making.

Here, have a look!

(The article is authored by Prof. Rajesh K. Pillania, who is judged Best Faculty for Strategic Management in India by ASSOCHAM & Education Post and is ranked jointly Number 1 for research productivity among management professors in India. Currently he is faculty of Strategy with MDI, Gurgaon.)

(Cover photo: Thinkstock)