Can you recognize a good strategy when you see one? Are their certain traits that all great strategies exhibit? And can you tell whether the last strategy you saw or built was anything more than just a wild-ass guess as to what to do next? The Good Strategy Sniff Test outlines 5 things to look for as indicators of a compelling strategy.

1. T H E G O O D
Strategy
S N I F F T E S T
5 SIGNS
YOU MIGHT HAVE A
GOOD STRATEGY

2. 01
IT'S NOT A PLAN
T H E G O O D
Good strategies are clear on the WHAT before they outline the
HOW. As international businessman, author and Columbia B-school
Professor, Willie Pietersen, likes to say:
STRATEGY is about DOING THE RIGHT THINGS,
PLANNING is about DOING THINGS RIGHT.
Strategy
S N I F F T E S T

3. T H E G O O D
02 Strategy
You can't devise and implement a solution if you're not clear on the
problem. Take the time to properly diagnose the challenge, and
then stay focused on it until you've made it go away. As inventor
and industrialist, Charles Kettering, was fond of saying:
A problem WELL-STATED, is a problem HALF-SOLVED.
S N I F F T E S T
IT SOLVES A PROBLEM

4. T H E G O O D
03 Strategy
S N I F F T E S T
IT HAS A GOOD SHAPE
Good strategy demands structure. UCLA's Richard Rumelt, one of
HBR's Top 50 Management Gurus, calls it the kernel:
DIAGNOSIS - this is the problem we need to solve (see #02)
GUIDING POLICY - high-level list of "things we need to do"
COHERENT ACTIONS - detailed steps necessary to implement
the Guiding Policy, including goals, deadlines and owners i.e the "plan"

5. T H E G O O D
04 Strategy
S N I F F T E S T
IT CREATES DIFFERENCE
Great strategies are borne out of deep empathy and a desire to make
things better. Bernadette Jiwa (the female Seth Godin) likes to say that
difference happens at the intersection of truth, opportunity and action.
Good Strategy lives there too. (P.S. extra points for noticing how truth,
opportunity & action resemble Rumelt's kernel).
It's not about being different, It's about creating difference.
You can read more about The Difference Model here.

6. T H E G O O D
05 Strategy
S N I F F T E S T
IT'S ROUND
Changing market conditions can render a strategy obsolete the
minute you've presented it! For this reason, good strategies are
circular, not linear. They feature ongoing measurement, re-analysis,
and adjustment, as appropriate. In other words:
Great strategies are working models, not final deliverables.
See Pietersen's Strategic Learning model for more on how to build self-learning strategies

7. T H E G O O D
Strategy
S N I F F T E S T
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
DEVON FERREIRA is an LA based strategist, entrepreneur and
consulting executive. Works with investors, start-ups and
senior execs in large companies to design and implement
transformative marketing, digital and operational strategies.
Former VP/global head of digital for Oakley. Previously
Director of Marketing Strategy at Disney. Co-founder of Blank
You Very Much, a brand collaboration & design community.
Click here to connect with Devon on LinkedIn