There are different ways to think about how strategy works in organizations. How does this really work? How does this unfold inside a business, inside an organizational context? So one way we might think about strategy inside organizations is that it might unfold in a way that's very much top down. Now this is a very traditional view of strategy. Oftentimes it can even encompass a formal process, strategy making process that's often part of the cyclical strategic planning process that the organization engages in, and the prospective here is that the executive, the chief strategist, if you will, kind of drives the vision and the strategy downward throughout the organization. So, of course, this is in fact how strategy can work in organizations. There's a lot of focus on this for a reason. And this sort of top down view of strategy has a very long history. For instance, the word strategy itself comes from the Greek word strategos, which means the art of the general. So originally this idea of strategy came from a military context. It was very much about, it was a concept about the general, having a vision and setting the direction in a wartime combat type of situation. And that's a concept that has a long history. In fact, there's a legendary book called The Art of War, which is believed to have been written in the 2nd century BC or so by a Chinese general. It's attributed to a Chinese general named Sun Tzu. You may have even heard of this book. So, in modern times this has become kind of a classic in strategy, it's considered a sort of a masterpiece. And it really captures the idea that strategy is set and implemented by the general. It's the general who's up on the hill who has the vision, who can kind of see things that the troops can't see. And sort of sets that vision and direction for the organization, in this case, for the army and the military forces, right. So again, the idea of strategies sort of originally kind of emerged from that particular context and I think this idea that it's about the general's vision and setting the strategic direction that has a strong and powerful currency even today. But of course, that's not the only way to think about strategy right? We also might think about strategy as being more of a bottom up process or an emergent process and in this view strategy kind of emerges over time. And it's responsive to changing conditions in the environment that the organization finds itself in. So we might set a strategy and it might even be something that was set in a top down way. But oftentimes, the organization encounters changes in the competitive landscape, changes in the economic environment or in cultural practices. There might be all sorts of things that shift and change. And so, we can start to see sometimes this difference between the intended strategy in the organization versus the realized strategy. And oftentimes, the realized strategy of the organization emerges from the difficulties and challenges and the sort of day to day activities of the organization. And of course I mean this is an idea that I am assuming resonates with you in your personal life. I mean have you ever sort of sat back and set a plan or a goal or a strategy if you will for yourself for the next year or the next five years, you know you have to ask yourself, how often does your life over that year, or five years, sort of unfold exactly the way you intended? Well, of course, oftentimes, things don't always work out exactly as we intended. It might be useful to have that sort of deliberate, intended strategy. But we can encounter difficulties and problems. And so, as we adjust to those things, to changing conditions, the strategy that we actually realize can be something that emerges from that experience. And of course, to go back to the military analogy, the idea here is that, that emergent strategy can be influence or even discovered by the ranking file in your organization or, in the military context, the troops that are on the ground, right? So the general might not know everything that is relevant to know about how that strategy is going to unfold and hopefully be effective, right? So when we think about this idea of emergent strategy, it's important to sort of understand it for a couple of reasons. First of all, often times again, this emergent strategy. What happens in practice arises from challenges or even failures of your intended strategy. So we might have this intended strategy and then we experience some problems or failures or challenges and it will feel like we kind of crash and burn, right? But often times, out of the ashes of that experience, emerges a sort of realized pattern that was not necessarily intentional in the original plan, but it's responsive to the things that the organization encounters. And really, eventually, what you might see is that ideally your organization is what's known as a learning organization. This is the type of organization that's really inculcated this idea of we need to continue to adjust to changing conditions. And if we've sort of built that mindset into our business, into our organization. We might be able to adjust more readily to those challenges that arise. And in fact being prepared and sort of willing and able to allow strategy to emerge and not just stick to the strategy that you always intended. That might actually make for a more robust strategy. You might, as an organization, be more robust as conditions change and to changes in that environment. So these are the things to keep in mind that, that a strategy might be deliberate and intended. It might come from the top down. But it might also be emergent and arise from experience. And this sort of corresponds to two sort of broad schools of thought in the world of strategy formulation and execution. So, we think of the intentional, sort of deliberate strategy that's something that might be associated with scholars like Michael Porter and others. The idea of emergent strategy, emerging out of your experiences, might be associated with a scholar like Henry Mintzberg. And again, these aren't the only individuals that have sort of promulgated and suggested these ideas, but they might be associated with this sort of thing. So think about your strategy execution as something that might be deliberate and start at the top, but it also might arise from the actual experience of your operations, and that might influence the sort of pattern of activities, that emerge as your realized strategy.
