I like Mark Pollard’s definition of strategy as an “informed opinion on how to win”. Strategy is one of those words with many different interpretations ... which makes me a little nutty ... but such is life. I’ve been working as a strategist in a range of capacities. I never intended on getting into this line of work, but this line of work certainly works for me.

Pretty much all the strategy I practice is done within the walls of a creative agency. Creative agencies do all kinds of “strategy” these days. From brand _> creative _> marketing _> social  _> content _> design _> communication  _> and more! I believe strategists benefit from flexing in many applications of the craft. Most importantly, I believe it’s critical that strategists understand the operating principles of strategy: effectively understanding the purpose of the strategy, identifying the problem in the context of the objective, developing an informed opinion on how to solve the given problem, and then empowering others in the system to do their job.

If there’s one thing I learned running a small strategic consultancy it’s that few people are looking to buy strategy, they want the outcome of a strategy. In my world, that means strategy operates in the service of creativity.