A strategy is a dynamic plan or set of plans defining an enterprise’s long-term goals, and action/ reaction toward existential threats/ journey hardships (e.g., competition). It is essentially about dealing with market realities as, or before, emergence as life threatening risk factors. A competitive strategy defines how a business can do better than its rivals, both existing and potential. A real strategy is one based on a clear set of choices that define an institution’s future course of action- i.e., what it is going to do and what it’s going to avoid doing.

Goals, on the other hand, are deliverables and desired outcomes in a specific area or at a broader level. Once set, a goal has to be sought and accomplished in accordance with a wider, overarching vision, exemplified in a plan or a set of plans constituting part, or whole, of a strategy. A strategy is not a goal, and the opposite holds. A company aiming to be a leader in its market seeks to achieve a goal, not a strategy. A goal involves an attempt to produce an outcome. How to achieve it falls within the boundaries of a strategy.

Another example is a company’s endeavor to improve its operational efficiency, either by positioning in a new market or repositioning in existing markets. The task at hand is a goal that involving decisions and priorities. However, it does not form a strategy.

A new strategy may involve a change of direction or a switch between two courses of action or more. In the process, goals consequently need to be reconsidered, re-adjusted or entirely replaced with new ones. A change of strategy necessitates alternation of all set goals. But changing goals, as a start, may not prompt a change in strategy.

A successful strategy is seldom a one-way of implementation. Effective companies can maintain bottom-up experimentation and ongoing refinement while concurrently holding on to its strategic trajectory.