‘STRATEGY’ in the overall sense determines where a company is going. It determines what direction all company efforts need to point. It clarifies what the business is and should be. And requires visionary and directional thinking as compared to ‘OPERATIONAL’ which is short-term and task specific thinking.

Every company has a strategy, whether good or bad. Bad strategy is to do what has always been done without consideration for the future.

Just think of luminary companies as the Pennsylvania Railroad, Pan American Airways, and Nortel Networks. Once dominate and respected companies now relegated to the chronicles of history. It didn’t take vision to follow the past and keep on doing the same old thing. And in the case of each of these three companies it drove them to bankruptcy.

On the other hand, a good strategy is one that is crafted around a clear understanding of what the company could be in the future.   A clear understanding requires visualization of what the future should be. This visualization or ‘vision’ informs the company’s ‘mission’ and communicates the ‘What’ of a company: What to be; What to do; What role to play. It articulates the nature and concept of the company’s future business. It is an internal guide for all major decisions, which are tested for compatibility against this vision.

In the absence of a clear vision the company’s mission will become confused, resources wasted, and departments working at cross-purposes. Therefore, without a clear vision articulating the ‘What’ of a company, there cannot be a clear mission which guides and informs the where, when and how of a company. And without a defined mission there cannot be a strategy guiding the company’s direction. So ‘Strategy Begins with Vision.’