So yes, in a VUCA environment (acronym for Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity in the original version) where "Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity" reign, it seems easier to be seduced by tactical moves.
In this article, I will try to explain to you the differences between tactics and strategy . Even if they are interdependent , these two terms, coming from military vocabulary, have fundamental differences .
What is tactic?
The word tactics , which comes from the Greek taktikós , originally denotes the disposition of combat troops before battle.
The theater of operations
First, when we talk about tactics, we are rather in the operational . To stay in the warrior vocabulary, tactics is a bit like the battlefield where feints and attack/defense by surprise or not, rub america cell phone number list shoulders with threats, dodging and pursuit or even counter-attack.
Also, when we talk about tactics, we are generally talking about a short-term , or even very short-term, vision.
To illustrate and make concrete examples applied to the company, we can find this kind of tactical actions:
Rent a stand at the Show (in your sector)
Schedule a radio sales promotion campaign
Add a page to your website about a new product or service
Manage a Facebook page by sponsoring posts and creating games
Send a reminder email
Write a blog post
Launch a campaign on Google Ads
Setting up a Street Marketing operation
Training salespeople in social selling
Edit and distribute a flyer
Restart your database
Establish a schedule or business action plan
New call-to-action
These operational actions, however valuable they may be, cannot and must not be carried out without strategic thinking.
Why? Because if we carry out these actions correctly but without making the right choices , the results will be very disappointing. Hence the interest in strategy.
What is strategy?
The word strategy also has military and Greek origins ( strategos ).
In business, we talk more about “how do we go about achieving the vision ?”
We are therefore in what is considered the long term , that of broad outlines and major projects.
The perspective is defined rather in the medium to long term . It is about winning the war, not a battle.
It is therefore necessary to make the right choices from the start, even if a strategy can be reviewed annually to make corrections if necessary.
The strategist is the one who shows the course, the objective, to be reached and advocates stability in the midst of the storm and tactical actions of the battlefield.