PG #67: Five ways to bring more strategy into your work.

Ask a room of a hundred strategists what ‘strategy’ means, and you’ll get a hundred different answers.

And that’s how it should be: each organisation is going to need a definition that works for them. It’s all about making sure the work people do every day is effective, and actually getting them to where they want to go.

So rather than provide a single definition for what strategy is, I’ve outlined five ways that you can bring strategy into design work, whether it’s for a small business, a government agency, a non-profit or a large corporation.

1. Zoom out
Look at the big picture. Understand the wider factors that are influencing your project now, and that will influence it in the future.

Be genuinely interested in what transpires in the community, industry, and wider business environment in terms of trends, undercurrents and possible futures. Understand the implications of these macro-factors and trends on the client’s business and on the specific project.

2. See both sides
Be both human centred and business focused. Understand the needs of all the parties involved - your client, their customers and the business.

(Read Hannah’s piece below for more on this.)

3. Bridge the gap
Build connection between research insights and delivering value. Give life to research by translating findings into actionable opportunities to support decision-making – give people the instruction manual for your research.

4. Align to the ‘big goals’
Weave the project’s goals with the organisation’s long-term strategic objectives. Make your project recommendations be the obvious thing for the client to prioritise and invest in, by demonstrating how it accelerates their goals.

5. Supply the plan
Hand over your projects with everything required to turn the project into a reality on the other side of that final presentation. Document the staging of activities, the timelines, the stakeholder engagement strategy… don’t leave design work hanging.

I hope looking at strategy from these varied angles can help you think about how go bring it to life in a way that makes sense for you.