Today's crisp set of newspapers or media feed clearly provides us with the latest updates of the corporate world's life, economy & business strategies. Whether we are aware of the term or not, "Strategy" is an inherent property of human beings, it is hard to track back in time to locate the exact time or era when it triggered.
It makes us think about what gave rise to strategy.
From early days even primitive men who had yet to grow & evolve used their every ounce of intelligence, innovation, and teamwork, assessed their strength & weakness, and strategized to cope with the environmental conditions, and reach a competitive advantage over others.
The word "strategy" is derived from the Greek word "stratēgos" meaning "general" which went through Latin, then French "stratégie" to finally form the English word "strategy" which it stands for now. All the terminologies link it to the terms "army," "lead," "general knowledge", "command, military tactics, logistics," and gives the sense of "art of the general/leader." The strategy involves making a unique action plan that the opponent finds it hard to compete with it.
Strategy originated from the necessity of people to defeat their enemies and combat challenges. Without adversities, the strategy would not have come into existence. Often, the groups involved in the war had similar resources, but it was the difference of strategy, which made one opponent win over the other. As time passed, the inequitable distribution of resources among the people made certain groups more powerful. Competing with them had become a challenge for those who possessed courage and physical strength but lacked weapons vice versa. These challenging groups' generals defeated or gave a tough fight to the mighty rulers using new, unique strategy and took the opponents by surprise. Chhatrapati Shivaji, one of the greatest strategists in history, would often surprise his opponents by attacking them when they least expected it. He would target them from a position where his opponent never thought off and can shock their opponents. This is the famous Guerrilla Warfare Strategy. It is more important for the strategists to continuously evolve the strategy by adding surprise. The mastermind Chanakya whose brainpower was the reason for Alexander's defeat in India was an excellent strategist. Chanakya Nitti, made for business, is also being used by several companies, even in today's world. Looking back at history, we will find many stalwarts who inspire us even today.
Strategy, Tactics, and Planning are often substituted for the other but are that always correct.
The strategy involves planning to achieve a long-term goal of attaining a particular aim. In contrast, tactics are more concrete short-term plans of actions initiated to fulfilling smaller goals along the way. Clear vision, purpose, and target come into the picture, where not simply planning will suffice. If we look closely, it is not a done game. It is a continuous process of wanting to achieve, but not just one target set for winning, but gradually building a better structure. The ideas and actions of individuals collectively form a shape ahead of their time which in turn plays a key role to give birth to something called "strategy". Tactics form an essential part of a long-term strategy. Tactics and planning complement the components of the strategy thus formed. This is a continuous loop or cycle, which was relevantly applied to many aspects in various fields over time and reached what it has come to "be" today. . Tactics are part of a long-term strategy. They complement the strategy made. Sun Tzu, whose "The Art of War" is regarded as one the oldest and most incredible works on military Strategy, described the relationship between tactics and strategy as “Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat."
As centuries passed, the strategy did not limit itself just to warfare and military exercises. The strategy has become an essential aspect in different spheres from thinking strategy, to military, game, market, administration, designing, business, and sports. All these fields need various strategies to evolve themselves and to ensure the success of their participants. Choosing and deploying the right strategy at the right time is the key to success. In short, "Strategy" is to hold on to the small dollops of shapes and forms in the pool of everyday uncertainty, climb ahead, attain desirable possible outcomes with available means, forging everything at hand, looking at a length ahead, considering the constant change, adaptability, and movement
To conclude, it can be said that whether one is the challenger or the leader, whether the playing field is the same or not, or one has all the resources or not, success can be achieved if the right strategy is deployed. It's the Strategy That Makes All The Difference.
See you next soon with some more exciting content. Till then, make your strategy for success.
