If you can develop and demonstrate strategic thinking capability, you will stand out—not only among new and young employees, but even among more seasoned and long-tenured employees. In my corporate experience, even many senior officers of large companies simply didn’t understand the difference between strategy and tactics.

Some people believe strategic thinking is an inherent talent that individuals either possess or don’t. They think there is little way to develop such capability. I believe that anyone can develop a strategic-thinking capability using the advice provided in this article. In fact, my own strategic capabilities were enhanced greatly through the effective mentoring of my own superiors, who were highly strategic in their thoughts and actions.

The Difference between Strategy and Tactics

Many employees—and some managers and leaders—don’t understand the difference between strategy and tactics.

Strategy is how to leverage a company’s core competencies to achieve its objectives and create sustainable competitive advantage. Tactics describe the specific actions that will be taken along the way.

Many people incorrectly think the difference between strategy and tactics is that strategy is long-term, and tactics are short-term. But both strategy and tactics can be either short-term or long-term.

Strategy is our path or bridge for going from where we are today to our goal. It’s our general resource allocation plan. For example, one strategy might be to engage industry thought leaders to become advocates for our product. The related tactics are how we will specifically or tangibly do that. They might include direct-marketing letters, face-to-face meetings, key talking point scripts, and an iPad app.

Key Points

1. There is a difference between strategy and tactics. The word “strategy” was originally used as a war term in determining the means by which a combatant would defeat the enemy. In general, strategy in business is about beating the competition. Strategy is how to leverage a company’s core competencies to achieve its objectives and create sustainable competitive advantage. In contrast, tactics describe the specific actions that will be taken along the way.
2. The first step in your learning process is to understand your own company’s strategies.

Action Steps

1. Learn your company’s strategies by taking the following actions:
   • Read your company’s annual report, and ask for copies of the most recent strategic plan.
   • If your company has publicly traded stock, read the periodic reports of the analysts who follow that stock. There you can learn a lot more about the external view of your company’s risks and opportunities and how it fares against the competition.
   • View reports of the various rating agencies, such as Moody’s, S&P, and Fitch, which might be rating your company for creditworthiness or other purposes.
   • Search for recent articles and press releases.

2. Learn about your company’s competition. Follow the same steps you used to research your own company, and research five or more key competitors. This task might be more difficult than researching your own company, but it will be well worth your time and effort. As you learn more about each competitor, keep notes on what you find out about each one because over time, their strategic efforts and positioning may change. Here are some tips for gathering information on competitors:
   • Read as much publicly available material as you can.
   • Mystery-shop the competition. If you really want to take your due diligence up a notch, and your business is in retail product sales, purchase some of the competitor’s products to compare them against comparable products sold by your company.
   • Set up a Google alert for your own company and for its competitors. You will discover what’s being said and reported about all the companies. You can find instructions for setting up a Google alert here.
   • Get acquainted with distributors. They are out in the field, talking with your company’s customers. They are likely to hear opinions about your competitors’ products and services—specifically about features your competitors offer that your company does not. Ask if there are some aspects of your business offerings that they would like to see expanded or modified.
   • Review competing companies’ websites.

3. Convert the knowledge you’ve learned about your company’s strategies, and those of your competitors, into strategic thinking by thoughtfully considering the following questions. The answers to these questions will help you demonstrate a strong strategic thinking capability. As you learn more about the company and its competitors, jot down answers to these questions:

• • How does my company currently differentiate itself from its key competitors?
  • What do we do differently and/or better than anybody else? Can we build on that, and if so, how?
  • What unique products, product features, or benefits does my company have that others don’t have? Are there others we should be considering?
  • Are there consumer needs or desires that my company and/or its competitors are not currently meeting? What are ways we can meet those needs?
  • How does my company compare to its competitors in customer surveys and reviews relating to products or services? If we fall short in some areas, what types of cost-effective investments can we make to significantly improve in those areas?
  • How does our advertising, marketing, and branding stack up against the competition? How can we improve in this regard?
  • Are there market segments that our competition is not adequately penetrating that we can effectively expand into?
  • From a competitive employment perspective, how do our compensation and benefits compare to those of our key competitors? To what extent do we need to improve our own compensation and benefit packages to better compete for talent?

If you have done your homework, asking yourself these questions, and then answering them, should trigger many strategic ideas that could help your company create sustainable competitive advantage.

As you communicate your thoughts and ideas to your company’s management team, they will begin to recognize you as a highly strategic thinker with high potential for more senior roles in the organization.