Most leaders believe that a strategy should be broad enough to inspire yet specific enough to guide action. But here’s the paradox: The broader a strategy is, the less guidance it provides. The more specific it is, the less strategic it feels.

This paradox is why many leaders hesitate to make their strategies specific, fearing that too much detail will limit flexibility, stifle innovation, or oversimplify complexity. However, a strategy that is too broad is just as dangerous as one that is too rigid. When goals are vague, teams lack the clarity needed to align their efforts, measure progress, and execute effectively.

For example, an organisation I was consulting for had a goal to “grow revenues by 20%”. While this set a target, it lacked clarity on where and how the growth would happen. Some business areas were in a maturity stage with limited growth potential, while others were in a high-growth phase. Without specificity, teams in mature business areas struggled to align with this goal, making execution ambiguous.

The Key to Clear, Specific & Measurable Strategy

Fortunately, there’s a way to make any goal clear and specific enough to guide action. Instead of "grow revenues by 20%," we translated this goal into two clear performance results:

• High-growth product lines achieve strong revenue performance
• Existing customers generate more revenue from upsells and cross-sells

This simple shift rendered the strategy more actionable, measurable, and easier to align with—facilitating focused efforts, relevant performance measures, and a direct connection between strategy and execution.

Managing the Broad AND Specific Strategy Paradox

To manage the Broad AND Specific Strategy Paradox, leaders must create a balance in the language they use in their strategies. It’s important to recognise that:

• Vision, mission, and values can remain broad – These elements define purpose, long-term aspirations, and guiding principles.
• Strategic themes and priorities can be directional – They provide high-level focus areas but don’t dictate specific outcomes.
• Strategic goals must be clear and specific – They define the exact aspects of performance to improve and must be measurable.

A well-defined strategic goal must be:

• Clear – Easily understood at all levels, from the boardroom to the front lines\
• Specific – Defines the exact aspect of performance to be improved\
• Measurable – Progress can be tracked with meaningful metrics\
• Actionable – Directly linked to daily work and decision-making