The Difference Between a Plan and a Strategy
Episode description
Planning is comforting but it’s a terrible way to make strategy, says Roger Martin, former dean of the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto. In contrast, setting strategy should push your organization outside its comfort zone – if you’re doing it right.
“Plans typically have to do with the resources you’re going to spend. Those are more comfortable because you control them,” Martin explains. “A strategy, on the other hand, specifies a competitive outcome that you wish to achieve, which involves customers wanting your product or service. The tricky thing about that is that you don’t control them.”
Key topics include: strategic planning, competitive strategy, risk management, innovation, and travel and tourism industry.
HBR On Strategy curates the best case studies and conversations with the world’s top business and management experts, to help you unlock new ways of doing business. New episodes every week.
- Watch the original HBR Quick Study episode: A Plan Is Not a Strategy (June 2022)
- Find more episodes of the HBR Quick Study series on YouTube.
- Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at HBR.org
