Strategy and entrepreneurship are often seen as polar opposites.
Strategy means rigorously defining and pursuing one clear path, while
entrepreneurship involves continually changing direction to take
advantage of new opportunities. Yet the two desperately need each other:
Strategy without entrepreneurship is central planning; entrepreneurship
without strategy leads to chaos. There is a way to reconcile the two,
through the lean strategy process. It ensures that start-ups innovate in
a disciplined fashion so that they make the most of their limited
resources. Lean strategy helps company builders choose viable
opportunities, stay focused, and align the entire organization. The
process begins with setting the venture’s vision, or ultimate
purpose—perhaps the only aspect of strategy that should be permanent. To
deliver on it, senior executives agree on a deliberate strategy,
defining the firm’s objective (the near-term goal that describes
success), scope (what the firm will and will not do), and competitive
advantage (how it will win). The deliberate strategy sets the bounds
within which experiments will take place and guides daily decisions. But
the results of those experiments and decisions lead to learning that
reshapes the strategy. Though priorities evolve, at each point in time
it’s clear to everyone in the firm which ones take precedence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]