Editorial
The Gist
- Blur breeds waste. When teams confuse strategy, objectives and goals, they burn resources on activity instead of progress.
- Strategy is choice, not motion. It’s an evidence-based verdict about where and how to compete—and what not to pursue.
- Objectives define success. Each strategy needs one measurable outcome that ties directly to business impact.
- Goals drive execution. They’re tactical, observable steps that serve the single objective.
- Assumptions destroy clarity. They masquerade as facts, contaminate plans and guarantee drift. Only discipline and evidence fix it.
- True strategy is a verdict, not a hypothesis. It turns diagnosis into deliberate choices, resource allocation and measurable growth.
Across organizations, campaign decks present deliverables and call them strategy. The mistake looks small, but it breaks execution. Strategy, the objective and goals collapse into a single bundle of activity. What should be disciplined choice-making devolves into a checklist.
If there is a close second in the list of terms I never use, it would be assumptions. (Awareness is the first. I cannot stand the word “awareness” when discussing strategy. A subject for another article). Both terms signal the absence of discipline. One is not an outcome. The other is not evidence. They creep into planning and call themselves useful.
This is not semantics. It is the root cause of wasted budget, fractured coordination and inconsistent results. The deeper problem is the silent role of assumptions, which slip into plans as if they were facts. Execution built on guesswork does not hold.
Sidebar: Why 'Awareness Is Not a Strategy
OK. I just can’t help myself. Here’s a quick word on awareness. Awareness is a byproduct, not a destination. It does not prove intent, drive action or measure impact. When teams center a plan on awareness, they default to vanity metrics that do not map to value. Strategy must anchor to outcomes that can be measured: revenue lift, retention gains renewal rates. Awareness may rise along the way. It cannot be the aim.
Table of Contents
- Why Confusion Persists With Marketers
- Anchoring in Discipline
- What Strategy Is Not
- The Hidden Peril: Assumptions
- Why 'Strategy as Assumptions' Fails
- The Execution Learning Fallacy
- The Measurable Mandate
- Action Framework: 5 Moves to Restore Discipline
- When Strategy Fails, and When it Succeeds
- Why the Difference Matters
- Choose, Measure and Prove
Why Confusion Persists With Marketers
Marketers confuse strategy with objectives and goals not because the concepts are interchangeable, but because recognizing and respecting their differences requires clarity that most teams resist. Writing tasks feels fast. Listing goals creates the illusion of progress and typically requires less brain power. Strategy, by contrast, requires diagnosis, abstraction and explicit tradeoffs.
It asks leaders to stop, choose and reject options. Few organizations force that discipline.
The result is chronic blur: kickoff decks that list deliverables as “strategy,” “objectives” that cannot be measured, and goals that serve as activity logs. When those blurred definitions govern execution, teams burn resources with little to show for it.
Define the Terms With Precision
Understanding how strategy, objectives and goals differ is essential to prevent wasted effort and confusion.
| Component | Definition | When missing, you see |
|---|---|---|
| Strategy | A deliberate set of focused choices about where and how to create value, based on diagnosis and evidence. It always names tradeoffs—what will not be pursued. | Reactive firefighting, scattered priorities, resources spread too thin. |
| Objective | A singular, measurable end state that defines success. It passes SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound) and ladders to organizational impact. | Metrics drift, constant pivots, no definition of “done.” |
| Goals | Tactical, accountable, observable steps that serve the objective. Defined by the ACTION framework: Action-oriented, Contributory, Time-bound, Input-focused, Observable, Necessary. | Endless activity disguised as purpose, reporting without results. |
Strategy is the roadmap. The objective is the destination. Goals are the moves on the board. Confusing them guarantees drift.
Anchoring in Discipline
Industry leaders converge on a common truth: strategy is not a hypothesis. It is a deliberate act of focus and choice.
- Gerry Tabio frames strategy as priorities that concentrate effort instead of scattering it.
- Mark Ritson describes strategy as the roadmap: the “how,” not the “what,” grounded in research and clarity about what will not be pursued.
- Vijay Govindarajan emphasizes strategy as the connection between today’s work and tomorrow’s growth, customer-centric and operationalized through resource allocation.
Taken together, the lesson is clear:
- Strategy is diagnosis first, then choice. It begins with research-driven understanding.
- Strategy defines the roadmap: the “how,” not the “what.” It explains the path, not just the target.
- Strategy requires tradeoffs. It forces clarity about what will not be done.
- Strategy is customer-centric and outcome-driven. It ties execution to measurable growth.
- Strategy lives in resource allocation. A choice unsupported by resources is not a strategy.
This framing stands in sharp contrast to the belief that strategy is a “hypothesis” or “bet.” An informed hypothesis is still a guess. A strategy is a verdict.
What Strategy Is Not
The belief that “strategy is a hypothesis” is appealing because it lowers the bar. It excuses sloppy thinking and makes experimentation sound like discipline. But it is wrong.
- Strategy is not a hypothesis. Hypotheses are educated guesses awaiting validation. They are important (in place of useless assumptions), but strategy is what survives diagnosis and analysis.
- Strategy is not a bet. Bets gamble resources. Strategy allocates them deliberately.
- Strategy is not planning. A plan is a calendar. Strategy is the logic that makes the plan matter.
- Strategy is not emergent by accident. Tactics adapt in execution, but strategy must be defined before investment.
True strategy is evidence turned into choices. Execution operationalizes those choices.
Related Article: What the History of CX Teaches Us About Modern Customer Experience Strategy
Sidebar: Common Myths About Strategy
- Myth 1: Strategy is a hypothesis. Truth: Strategy is a decision anchored in evidence.
- Myth 2: Strategy is planning. Truth: A plan is a schedule. Strategy is the logic that dictates which plan matters.
- Myth 3: Strategy emerges in execution. Truth: Tactics can evolve, but strategy must be proven first.
The Hidden Peril: Assumptions
Assumptions are the silent killer of strategic work. They infiltrate every layer of planning because they present themselves as knowledge while remaining untested.
- In strategy: Teams assume market conditions, customer needs or competitor responses without validation.
- In objectives: Leaders set targets based on imagined baselines or growth rates.
- In goals: Tactics are designed around untested beliefs about what will drive results.
When those assumptions collapse, so does everything built on them.
Why 'Strategy as Assumptions' Fails
Treating strategy as a collection of assumptions reverses the order of thinking and doing. The discipline of strategy follows this sequence:
- Diagnose markets, customers and competitors.
- Make evidence-based choices about where to compete and how to win.
- Allocate resources in line with those choices.
- Execute tactics designed to serve the objective.
When strategy is reduced to “a set of assumptions to test,” the sequence collapses into trial-and-error guesswork. The cost is wasted resources, confused teams and expensive lessons that could have been avoided.
The Execution Learning Fallacy
Another misconception is that “execution equals learning.” While execution can reveal tactical improvements, it cannot stand in for strategic clarity.
When leaders claim strategy is just about asking questions, they abdicate responsibility for making choices. When teams treat failed execution as “learning,” they normalize waste. True learning occurs when execution tests tactics within the boundaries of a defined strategy, not when strategic choices were never made in the first place.
The Measurable Mandate
If the outcome cannot be measured, it is not the objective. Write one objective. Make it specific and time-bounded. Tie it to retained revenue, renewal rates, reduced attrition or cost control. Then map three to five goals that directly contribute. Drop everything else. This clarity not only aligns execution but also makes contribution visible.
Action Framework: 5 Moves to Restore Discipline
- Surface assumptions: Name every unverified claim. Treat each as a risk. Validate, replace with evidence, or kill outright. Never let assumptions pass forward unchallenged.
- Set the objective: One outcome, measurable, owned by leadership, tied to value.
- Map goals with ACTION: Action-oriented, Contributory, Time-bound, Input-focused, Observable, Necessary.
- Name tradeoffs: State explicitly what will not be pursued.
- Track contribution: Review lead and lag measures weekly, cutting non-contributors.
When Strategy Fails, and When it Succeeds
The Assumption-Led Collapse
A retail brand set a "strategy" to expand into youth markets. But the work was built on assumptions: younger buyers wanted the same customer loyalty perks as their parents; discounts alone would drive retention. The objective included vague revenue targets. Goals were a flurry of activity, featuring new offers, contests and messages.
The result was predictable. Campaigns underperformed, younger audiences disengaged and costs climbed. The “strategy” was just a bundle of guesses. When those assumptions failed, everything collapsed with them.
The Evidence-Led Reset
Contrast that with a nonprofit facing donor attrition. Rather than assume why donors disengaged, the team began with diagnosis: segment analysis, donor interviews and attrition modeling. They uncovered the real drivers: lack of follow-up, poor personalization and no easy mobile pathway for repeat giving.
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The strategy was to concentrate resources on retention over acquisition. The objective was clear: lift retained revenue by 12% over 12 months. Goals were tactical, measurable and mapped to that outcome:
- Suppress unresponsive addresses.
- Personalize communications by donor behavior.
- Optimize checkout for mobile and wallet payments.
Within two cycles, donor retention rose, costs stabilized, and revenue growth returned. Evidence-based strategy, not assumptions, drove the turnaround.
Operating Cadence and Artifacts
- Monthly strategy review: Re-state the objective, confirm tradeoffs, re-allocate resources.
- Weekly performance stand-up: Inspect contribution to the objective, not activity volume.
- Assumption register: Track each assumption, its supporting evidence, its owner and the decision: validate, test quickly or kill outright. No assumption advances without resolution.
- Goal ledger: Record each goal, its owner, inputs and proof of contribution.
- Close-out memo: Document what changed, what to stop and what to scale.
These artifacts convert meetings from status updates to decision forums.
Why the Difference Matters
Research shows that 70% of failed projects trace back to unclear objectives, missing milestones, or confusion between strategy, objectives and goals. Hidden assumptions amplify the damage by turning weak definitions into brittle execution.
Respecting the distinctions brings cross-functional clarity, aligns resource allocation, forces tradeoffs into the open and makes progress measurable. Teams gain morale when they see how their work ties to impact. Leaders gain confidence that resources are building growth, not just activity.
Choose, Measure and Prove
Strategy is choice. The objective is the measurable end state. Goals are accountable steps. Assumptions do not belong in that chain.
When teams respect these boundaries, they focus resources, reduce rework and compound gains. When they blur them, failure is inevitable.
The sequence is simple and non-negotiable: Strategy. Objective. Goals. Execution follows impact; never the reverse.
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