Why You Need More Than One Strategy: The Case for Granularity

The Problem with the Monolith

For decades, the standard approach to corporate strategy was the monolith: a single, comprehensive document designed to guide the entire organization. The CEO and executive team would disappear for a week, emerging with a slide deck that theoretically aligned every department, region, and product line.

Today, this approach is not just outdated; it's actively harmful. The speed of market change requires a level of agility that a monolithic strategy simply cannot provide.

The Shift to Granularity

Leading organizations are shifting towards granular, unit-level strategic planning. Instead of one corporate strategy, they have multiple, interconnected strategies:

• Product-level strategies: tailored to specific competitive landscapes.
• Regional strategies: accounting for local market dynamics and regulations.
• Functional strategies: aligning HR, IT, and operations with business goals.

Benefits of Granular Strategy

1. Agility: When market conditions change in one sector, you only need to adjust the relevant strategy, not the entire corporate plan.
2. Ownership: Unit leaders feel a greater sense of ownership when they are responsible for their own specific strategy.
3. Clarity: Granular strategies are inherently more specific and actionable than broad corporate mandates.