Summary
1. The creation of a new strategy is part planning and part trial and error. Planning is necessary to define the parameters within which experimentation can take place.
2. The process of strategy creation consists essentially of two parts: (1) generation of ideas and (2) evaluation, experimentation, learning, and modification. This second aspect of the process may continue through many cycles until the firm arrives at a strategy that gives it a unique market position.
3. New strategic ideas can be generated in a variety of ways. Continually questioning the way the firm currently does business is one. Planning is another.
4. New strategic ideas must reach decision makers quickly and must be evaluated in a fair and transparent way. A company must develop processes that allow for this to happen.
5. The strategy-making process can be derailed in a number of ways. Care must be taken to avoid these traps of strategy making.