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Subject: Distinctions In Your Business Strategy, Tactics & Operations

Author:
Dennis S. Vogel

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Date Posted: 22:06:19 07/29/15 Wed

I've been working on a post about 'Questions & Real Issues' which includes the importance of distinctions.

I know Rich Schefren hasn't been monitoring my actions. (He hasn't been, right?)

Yet at just the right time, I got an email message from Rich about the importance of distinctions.

So, I'm including the URLs for his posts, so you can learn from him, then you can return here.

I hope to finish my post soon, but stuff happens & keeps happening. Though helping you is a high priority, I help my family first.

Here is the first URL -
The Invisible Limit On All Your Strategy by Rich Schefren
http://www.strategicprofits.com/strategy/the-invisible-limit-on-all-your-strategy/

I advise you to read the comments. Those are important, so I've included the current 4 comments here -

Adri � "One of the biggest distinction I ever had is the distinction between Tactic and Strategy! Big big distinction that made all the difference for me."

Rich Schefren Mod > Adri � "That's a huge distinction Adri. Thanks for sharing"

DavidHH > Rich Schefren � "Extend that idea, it's crucial... Strategy: What and Why
Tactics: When and Where
Operations: Who and How.
And, that covers Kipling's' 'Honest serving men'".

Virg Lewis � "It is easy to focus too narrowly on the payoff. I was doing that recently and let other things slide. That made me feel overwhelmed.

"I backed off the project, because I could legitimately do so without guilt or angst, and caught up on the other items.

Now I feel creative and 'clear' again to get back into the project."

A Lot Of Wisdom In A Few Words

DavidHH wrote some wisdom that's far bigger than the size of his comment. As he advised extending that idea, I'm expanding the definitions.

To live by design not by chance, you need to develop some forms of strategy, tactics & operations.

Running an optimal business requires developing some forms of strategy, tactics & operations.

This Is "It"

(Note - There are other applicable issues & questions which I haven't included. I'm writing a blog post, not a book here.)

In the next set of statements "it" means your mission, task, plan, actions &/or goal. In military terms, "it" is the Commander's Intent - the main thing to accomplish; the minimum criterion in judging mission success or failure.

Your Strategy is what you should do & the reason for doing it.

Your Tactics involve when & where to do it.

Your Operations involve determining who is the best person or team to do it & how it should be done for optimal effectiveness & efficiency. Performance (How to perform a mission) depends on the actions in the specific conditions (where to do it) & with a set of resources (What to use to get it done).

There's a good explanation about conditions in The Art of War by Sun Tzu http://classics.mit.edu/Tzu/artwar.html.
You can use this wisdom for nonviolent actions also. Compare your situation with Sun Tzu's wisdom & extrapolate.

Operations oriented questions also include - How long should a task be done? How much (to what extent) should a task be done?

These questions can be summed up in the clich� - You've got to know when to hold them & when to fold them.

Do Enough But Not Too Much

Opportunity cost issues are - Some resources will only be available for one task at time. Some resources might be consumed (totally used up).

Your distinctions should include defining optimal amounts of effort. Axiomatic statements related to opportunity cost -

If you do a task more often than necessary, you'll waste resources, which won't be available for other tasks. If you do a task less than necessary, you won't be successful & you'll waste resources you've expended.

If you take too long to do a task, you'll have less energy & time for other tasks. Even if you have enough of every other resource for other tasks, you'll fail if you squander energy & time.

Based on the value of your resources & the importance of your task, you need to recognize distinctions to make good decisions. Example: Is a task worth more than the resources being consumed & opportunity cost of other high priority tasks?

Distinctions are required to determine if a task is necessary, then determining what the task should be. Distinctions are important in prioritizing actions.

For practical purposes, problem recognition & reasons arise before planning what the action will be. If there's no need for an action, there's no reason to plan an action.

Choosing the best person or people for a task should depend on the time, location & other conditions. That's why tactics should be considered while choosing the best person or people.

Example - Your task requires lifting, moving & assembling several big products. Who has the strength & stamina for the task? Among those strong people, who has the knowledge to assemble those products effectively & efficiently?

In marketing, tactics also include the product/service being offered & the niche who should receive the offer. It has to be this way because putting your offer in the right place at the right time is a vital factor in getting the right people to accept it.

Refine A Tactic While Defining A Strategy

Some people advise forming a strategy before a tactic. I disagree with that. You should be sure you have a tactic that's optimal for your situation.

Example - Walmart has a successful strategy, but since its tactics are required to make its strategy work, you shouldn't try to use its strategy. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. uses tactics that work in a big retail logistics format, there are very few businesses that could afford to do the same things.

Successfully fulfilling a business strategy & using a tactic will always require specific resources for a specific situation.

You could have a definitive strategy for climbing directly to the top of retailing, but don't try that climb without the best tactic for fulfilling that superior strategy.

Fulfilling any strategy requires using resources in specific ways - especially energy, money & time.

Don't try the climb, if you don't have the time or the dime. You'd waste your energy. Don't pay the dime unless you have enough time & energy to make the climb. You'd waste your money.

My advice fits the comment posted by Virg Lewis (above) about not neglecting yourself or other responsibilities.

�Getting� Distinctions In Your Business by Rich Schefren
Here is the URL for Rich's follow-up post -
http://www.strategicprofits.com/strategy/getting-distinctions-in-your-business/

Sources Of More Concepts & Insights

You can get insights & distinctions about strategies, tactics & related subjects from books & articles by Fred Wiersema including "The Discipline of Market Leaders: Choose Your Customers, Narrow Your Focus, Dominate Your Market" by Michael Treacy & Fred Wiersema & "The New Market Leaders" by Fred Wiersema.

Jim Collins has published a lot of wisdom in articles & books - "Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies" By Jim Collins & Jerry I. Porras
Some other books written by James C. Collins are - "Good to Great", "How The Mighty Fall" &
"Great by Choice" by Jim Collins & Morten T. Hansen

You need to develop business practices also called systems &/or methods.

Chet Holmes wrote & spoke about policies, plans & procedures. You can check YouTube.

Michael E. Gerber wrote about systems & working on a business, not just in it. "The E-Myth" "The E-Myth Revisited" & "E-Myth Mastery" by Michael E. Gerber.

Clayton M. Christensen & co-authors wrote about innovation, resources, values & processes. Some of Clay Christensen's books are - "The Innovator's Dilemma", "The Innovator's Solution" by Clayton M. Christensen & Michael E. Raynor & "Seeing What's Next" by Clayton M. Christensen, Scott D. Anthony & Erik A. Roth.
"The Innovator's DNA" by Jeff Dyer, Hal Gregersen & Clayton M. Christensen

Books & articles written by Al Ries & Jack Trout have relevant advice about tactics & strategies; some examples are - "Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind"; "The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing"; "Bottom Up Marketing"; & "Marketing Warfare".
"The New Positioning" by Jack Trout and Steve Rivkin & "Focus: The Future Of Your Company Depends On It" by Al Ries.

You can use search engines to find these information resources.

You should learn what you can, then test what you learn, so you'll know what works best for you.

Dennis S. Vogel
thrivingbusiness@email.com
Attaining & maintaining business success requires optimally connecting many relevant insights.
Please check the archives (1, 2 & 3) also for more free information.
http://www.voy.com/31049/2/

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Subject	Author	Date
Distinctions For Developing & Choosing Superior Options	Dennis S. Vogel	00:42:02 08/29/15 Sat