During a strategy review for a regional company, I asked a simple question at the factory floor: “What’s our strategy?” The answers were a comedy of contradictions. One supervisor spoke about “leveraging synergies to optimise cross-functional efficiencies.”
Another mumbled something about “value chain integration.” A third said, “I think it’s in the PowerPoint from last year.” Not one person could explain it in plain language.
It reminded me of an who used to give farming advice in riddles. His words sounded wise, but no one knew what to do with them. Meanwhile, those who spoke plainly, “Plant the beans before the rain stops”, actually got results.
Leaders love complex strategy statements because they sound impressive in boardrooms. They win applause at conferences. They look good in glossy reports. But here’s the truth: if your team can not explain your strategy in a 30-second lunch break without looking at notes, they can not execute it. Execution dies in the fog of jargon.
A strategy should tell people exactly where to play, how to win, and what to do next Monday morning. If it is too abstract, they will make their interpretations, and you will get 12 different versions of “the plan” running in parallel, none of them hitting the target.
In high-performance environments, clarity has three qualities.
a) It is short enough to remember.
b) It is simple enough to repeat.
c) It is specific enough to act on immediately. Anything else is just decoration.
The real work of leadership is translating vision into a sentence that the cleaner, the sales manager, and the finance head can all say the same way, and mean the same thing. That’s when you know you have moved from MBA-speak to execution-speak.
Leadership challenge:
This week, pick five random people in your organisation and ask them to explain the company strategy in their own words. If the answers do not match, or you get blank stares, you have a clarity problem, not a motivation problem.
Table 1: The Lunch Test
Step | Action | Best Practice Detail | Why It Works in Top Companies |
1. State your strategy in plain words | Write your strategy as if you’re explaining it to a friend over lunch. | Use short, everyday words. Avoid MBA jargon (“synergies,” “optimise,” “leverage”) unless you can explain them in one simple sentence. Example: Instead of “leveraging operational synergies to optimise value,” say “We will open 5 more branches in busy market towns to reach more customers.” | People remember and repeat what they understand. Plain language removes confusion and speeds up execution. |
2. Keep it under 30 seconds | Read your strategy aloud and time it. | If it takes more than 30 seconds to say without rushing, it’s too long. Cut unnecessary phrases until the core remains. | Forces clarity and focus. In elite companies, the strategy can be recited in an elevator or quick corridor chat. |
3. Ensure a shared meaning | Test it on 5 random team members from different departments. | Ask each person to repeat the strategy in their own words. Compare their answers. If the meaning changes, it’s still too complex. | Avoids the “12 versions of the plan” problem. Consistency = alignment. |
4. Make it actionable immediately | Ask: “What can you do differently on Monday morning to move this strategy forward?” | If team members can’t answer, rewrite the strategy so it points to clear actions. Example: “Launch an online store by June” vs “Enhance digital channels.” | Turns strategy into execution, not just slogans. |
5. Embed it in daily language | Integrate the plain-language strategy into meetings, dashboards, onboarding, and performance reviews. | Use it as the constant reference point for decisions: “Does this move us closer to our strategy?” | Keeps focus alive. In top companies, the strategy is part of the daily conversation, not an annual event. |
Before approving any strategy statement, ask: “Could my team say this over lunch, word for word, without notes?” If not, simplify until they can. Clarity beats cleverness. Every time.
Visit www.summitcl.com to see how we turn strategy documents into simple, memorable execution roadmaps that teams actually use.
