Every company says they have a strategy. Most don’t.
What they actually have is a wish list of things they’d like to achieve—we want to grow, we want more customers, we want higher margins. That’s not strategy. That’s just optimism with a PowerPoint deck.
Real strategy is about making choices that sting. Because if you’re not giving something up, you’re not actually committing to anything.
“Strategy isn’t about winning—it’s about choosing how to lose. And most leaders don’t have the stomach for that.”
The Pain Principle: Why Real Strategy Hurts
The biggest lie in business? That you can grow without sacrifice.
Strategy isn’t about winning—it’s about choosing how to lose. And most leaders don’t have the stomach for that.
They want growth without giving up control. Innovation without risk. More products, more customers, more markets—without breaking anything in the process. That’s not strategy. That’s fear masquerading as ambition.
You’re Not Making Hard Choices. You’re Just Delaying the Inevitable.
Every company will experience loss. The only question is whether you choose it on your terms or let it happen to you.
Blockbuster didn’t choose to kill its rental business, so Netflix did it for them. Blackberry didn’t sacrifice its keyboard obsession, so Apple did it for them. Sears didn’t decide what it was willing to let go of, so the entire retail industry left it behind.
Real strategy means preemptive sacrifice. It’s killing your own cash cow before someone else does. It’s cutting your own leg off before gangrene sets in.
If it doesn’t feel extreme, you’re not moving fast enough.
Why Most Companies Are Afraid of Strategy
Most companies don’t fail because they make the wrong moves. They fail because they make no moves at all.
Why? Because real strategy forces three deeply uncomfortable truths:
You will disappoint people. Cutting products, killing features, and walking away from customers means someone will be angry. Good. That means you’re actually taking a stance.
You will feel like you’re making a mistake. Because you are. Every choice eliminates an opportunity. But a business that won’t choose is a business that won’t win.
You will be criticized. By customers. By investors. By your own team. If nobody is questioning your decisions, you’re not making strategic ones.
A strategy that pleases everyone isn’t a strategy. It’s a delay tactic.
“If you’re not actively losing something, you’re not really gaining anything either.”
Your Business Model Is a Controlled Burn, Not a Museum
Most leaders think about their business like a museum—curate, protect, preserve. But the best businesses operate like a controlled burn—intentionally setting parts on fire so something stronger can grow.
Netflix killed its own DVD business before streaming was mainstream.
Apple killed the iPod while it was still a bestseller.
Amazon killed its free shipping threshold because it knew Prime was the future.
They could have played it safe. But safe is where companies go to die.
If you’re preserving everything, you’re preserving your own irrelevance.
Stop Asking ‘What Should We Do?’—Ask This Instead
Want to know if you actually have a strategy? Instead of asking “What should we do?”, ask these instead:
What should we stop doing—today?
What’s working, but will kill us in 3 years?
If we had to bet the company on just one thing, what would it be?
What would we do differently if we had zero brand equity?
