Are your “Strategic Decisions” really Strategic?

When I ask a business owner why a decision was made, I often receive the answer “Oh… That was a strategic decision.” “Really? Great, so tell me more, how was it strategic?” is my follow up question. Now I get the “what do you mean? It was a strategic decision. What more do you need to know?”

Well, I need to know how that decision helped you get closer to achieving you long term goals (your BHAG, if you are a Good To Great and Jim Collins fan). Or maybe how it increased the value of your offerings for your core customer. Or maybe how this decision helped you improve on your financial engine.

More often than not, the phrase “Strategic decision” is a code word for the following scenarios: I have no clue why we did that; the money was good; I had to close that deal so i discounted it and now I need a good reason for giving that discount.

A business is the sum total of all business decisions you make and execute on. Every decision you make carries you closer to or takes you further away from your BHAG (big hairy audacious goal). Every opportunity you take has an opportunity cost attached to it. The opportunity cost is the opportunity you cannot take on because of the resources you just deployed on the first opportunity. If you take on opportunities that don’t help you achieve your long term vision and goals, then you are keeping yourself from being able to take the right opportunities when they come by.

Patrick Thean’s Bio

Patrick Thean is an award winning serial entrepreneur who has started and exited multiple startups. He received the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award for North Carolina in 1996 and achieved a ranking of 151 on the Inc 500 in 1997.

An international speaker and the author of Execute Without Drama, Patrick has spoken to thousands of business owners on the topics of sustaining business growth, venture capital, and strategic exit strategies. He has spoken at Fortune Growth Conferences and various Entrepreneur Organization chapters. Patrick is currently Co-Chair of MIT’s Entrepreneur Masters Program. Patrick has earned the reputation of being a top coach for high growth companies. Patrick earned Bachelors and Masters degrees in Electrical Engineering from Cornell University.