Digital strategy

Digital strategy is a plan to succeed in the digital age. The age of the intelligent digital mesh. The age of the economy of things. Everything that once was atoms, now comes as bits. 

Digital is not an upgraded term for what the IT department does. Nor do we think social media literacy is sufficient for digital strategy. The essence of strategy, says Michael Porter, is choosing what not to do. A clear and elegant digital strategy signals what you will  and will not  do to thrive in the digital age. And it will make clear what you choose to do when so many new and exciting technologies and insights are available. Some of these might be of great assistance for your digital stratg, others can hold you back considerably.  

“Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory, tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat” is one of the lessons of Sun Tzu. Your plan to succeed should address vision and execution. It should address economics and business models as well as existing and emerging technologies. The economics of digital are too often neglected. Digital offerings and assets can be reproduced at low cost, instantly, and perfectly. In a digital platform economy, winner takes all and competition is fierce. 

We can do a lot better in digital strategy. Preparation, as solid and honest as possible, is a major cornerstone of digital success. In this article we explore the importance and relevance of charting the waters for digital strategy. As in any strategy, preparation is a key to realising intended outcomes and outmanoeuvring obstacles, adversaries and sometimes even bad luck. 

Digital strategy: What we can do better

How charting the water helps

“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.” – Sun Tzu. 

So, chart the waters. Where is your port of departure? How does it differ from your port of call? Understand your travel itinerary. Where wil your journey lead you to, and what will it look like when you are there? Learn from other defeats, and mistakes you made earlier. Treat your team as you would your family when embarking on a long trip. And to stick with the Sun Tzu theme here, be fast.  Preparation matters a lot. This sits at the heart of the work of the strategist, especially given the complexity of the environment we navigate. 

Speed is good, but rushing is bad. In digital strategy, there is often a rush to execution where a premium is placed on knowledge of the medium. In other words, it is deemed enough to know tactically how to manipulate digital platforms and channels. The biggest takeaway from The Art of War might be right in the first chapter Laying Plans: Gain Victory Before You Even Begin. Win the war before you even begin to fight. Sun Tzu states, “The skillful leader subdues the enemy’s troops without any fighting; he captures their cities without laying siege to them; he overthrows their kingdom without lengthy operations in the field.”

Sun Tzu proposed, “In war, then, let your great object be victory, not lengthy campaigns.” Your change itinerary should get you to your port of call fast and without hassle. Avoid going into battle where possible and learn to quit when necesssary.  No one has time for lengthy digital campaigns that are expensive and drawn out over time. Digitalization has made the online world of business change daily. 

Sun Tzu also explores the idea of strategy that is based on relative resources. He writes that ‘He will win who knows how to handle both superior and inferior forces’. This is interesting to digital strategists since we often take a pretty standard approach to our work, regardless of resources. Digital strategy though is not all about newness. There are inferior forces as well. Legacy systems. Rusty people entrenched in their routines and preferences. Budgets. Manage them well. Says Sun Tzu: “Do not repeat the tactics which have gained you one victory, but let your methods be regulated by the infinite variety of circumstances.” . Keeping it simple, minimalist and focussed on digital raises your chances of victory.

A few rules of thumb

So, what can you do to chart the waters? Here are a few rules of thumb from our experience.

Be a forward thinker. Gather as much information about your future trajectory as possible. Resist the urge to look back and analyse your earlier endeavours. Foreground backcasting over forecasting. 

Be visual. When we say charting the waters, we mean creating a chart and discuss it with the team. A spreadsheet is not the best tool for this job. A visual collaboration tool is. It will facilitate imagination, creativity and a shift in futuring over linear presentation of data points. 

Be honest. Hope is not a strategy. If your organisation lacks the skills or resources to become the worlds leading digital platform in your field, be brave enough to be realist and think of more modest stratagems that help you thrive in the digital age. 

Be realist. As said above, you should handle the superior and the inferior forces. Sue, your story is less entertaining when it neglects the latter. But a good strategy that helps you dealing with the odd balls and chains of your digital environment will help you win your digital war faster and without bloodshed. 

Charting the waters is time well spent. It helps you to fight ignorance, and enter your strategic challenges adequately prepared.  It helps you to avoid guesswork, and save on precious resources. But most importantly, it makes the journey much more clear and transparent, decluttered, simple, pure, minimalistic. Eliminating superfluous smart talk creates space for being digital native.