A five step process

The primary purpose of a strategy is to answer a critical business question – this could be anything from if the business should pursue a specific opportunity, identifying a root cause of an issue and how to solve it, or any other question to achieve a specific goal, including what the goal should be. Thus, the first stage of the process should identify the question, while the answer to this question will be the strategy. Given the importance of this step, ensure you understand the question from the business correctly and clarify as required.

The MECE framework and The Pyramid Principle developed by Barbara Minto (the de facto standard in strategy consultancies) are helpful anytime you are trying to structure your thinking to break down problems. MECE means “Mutually Exclusive, Collectively Exhaustive” and is a thought framework you can use to organize ideas into distinct groups (mutually exclusive, no overlaps). This process allows you to capture as many outcomes as possible, thus collectively exhaustive (no gaps).

The Pyramid Principle explains that the corporate strategy is basically like a pyramid, where each layer is the summary of the level below, while each layer applies the “MECE” framework.

In regards to a corporate strategy, using The Pyramid Principle in combination with the “MECE” framework, you are able to create an answer skeleton that depicts every possible outcome to your question at hand.

Now that your skeleton’s bare bones are laid out, it’s time to refine the information to include the why and what in detail for each solution option. Use this step to compile all relevant information that you find using research, internal company resources, ideation, etc. At the end of this step, you should have a clear and comprehensive look at nearly every probable outcome of your corporate strategy based on data and evidence – fully validated and traceable to reliable sources.

Now, it’s time to use a text editor or presentation software to build your logic tree during this step. As you begin writing the storyboard, the skeleton becomes the product overview as it defines sections, subsections, and slides. Use your storyboard to create a message for each slide or section of your draft. When you are done with this step, you should have a coherent storyline that follows the original skeleton structure and answers the original business question. 

The main purpose of this step is to add any information that may have been missed to support critical messages and to check the structure. Regarding the flow of information, you should have the most important messages first and in a logical order that ensures all information is validated. Be sure to include sources and explanatory notes where applicable. Once this step is completed, you are ready to deliver your presentation or paper to the stakeholder who raised the “question” that your strategy focused on answering. 

 
Ultimately, creating a corporate strategy is easier than some people may have you think. Following the five steps discussed above will help you develop a strategy confidently with impact, focused on your stakeholder’s key concern.