Stop Calling It Strategy - Start Calling It What It Is

Let’s be honest: the word "strategy" has had a good run. It sounds sharp, sophisticated, and powerful. But here’s the truth—strategy is a relic. It was born on battlefields where opposing forces fought over the same ground. That made sense when businesses operated in closed markets, clawing for slices of a finite pie. Today? That mindset is not just outdated—it’s a liability.

Why Strategy Is Broken

Strategy assumes scarcity. It assumes the only way forward is to outmaneuver rivals for what already exists. In a world of rapid tech shifts and global connectivity, that’s a losing game. Competing for yesterday’s markets is like fighting over a well that’s already dry. And yet, many executives cling to strategy because it feels safe. It’s easier to polish a “strategic plan” than to venture into the unknown.

This is why so many companies, armed with glossy strategic documents, no longer exist. They optimized for the familiar while the future passed them by.

The Case for Ventures

Language drives behavior. Strategy signals defense and competition. Venture signals exploration and creation. Ventures embrace uncertainty, risk, and adaptation. They acknowledge that the path forward may twist or detour—but that’s the price of discovering new ground. Even if the path was to collapse, ventures enable us to pivot and adjust while still moving forward.

Unlike strategy, ventures don’t obsess over competitors. They make competitors irrelevant by opening markets that didn’t exist yesterday. They invite collaboration—not as a tactical alliance for advantage, but as a shared journey toward possibilities no one can fully predict.

Why Leaders Resist

Why do executives cling to strategy? Because ventures demand qualities many leaders struggle with: curiosity, humility, and courage. Additionally, "strategy" has often been perceived as sophisticated and, well, strategic. The truth is that it's easier to fight for what you know than to imagine what could be. But the organizations that thrive tomorrow will be those that abandon the battlefield and head for uncharted territory.

How to Make the Shift

1. Change the Language: Stop asking, “What’s our strategy?” Start asking, “What’s our next venture?”

2. Fund Exploration: Allocate resources for experimental projects—even those without guaranteed ROI.

3. Reward Learning, Not Just Winning: Celebrate insights gained from ventures, even when outcomes differ from expectations.

4. Build Adaptive Teams: Hire and develop people who are comfortable with ambiguity and iteration.

5. Ignore Competitors: Focus on unmet needs, emerging technologies, and latent markets—not on beating someone else’s playbook.

   
   

Bottom Line

Strategy belongs to a world of scarcity and conflict. Ventures belong to a world of abundance and possibility. If your organization is still sharpening its “strategic sword,” it’s time to ask: Are we preparing for yesterday’s war—or tomorrow’s frontier?