Strategy? my ass!

“Strategy” is likely one of the most overused and misunderstood terms in the business world, politics, and even in our daily lives. It sounds pompous, weighty and intelligent, which is why it’s often poured over normal plans like a kind of “verbal sauce” to make them seem more important.

Where the confusion arises

  • Many people call a to-do list or a step-by-step plan a strategy. If you say, “Our strategy is to send more emails,” then you’re talking about a method or tactic, not a strategy.
  • Strategy vs. Objective: “Our strategy is to become the market leader” is not a strategy, but an ambition. A strategy explains how you are going to achieve that.
  • Buzzword factor: In meetings, the word is often used to project authority. It simply sounds better to say “we need to look at this coffee machine strategically” than “we need to decide whether to buy a new one.”
    • Formula 1 commentators make it even more exciting by using terms like “tire strategy.” At most, you’re talking about resource management there.
    • If Pirelli makes the following statement: Within 5 years, we will be synonymous with the tire standard in the top segment of the automotive world, and in doing so, we will make a margin of 80% on our products, then that is an ambition, but not yet a strategy.
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Military strategy is the collective term for preparing for warfare. Strategy, derived from the Greek word strategos, was seen as “the art of the general.” Military experts, define strategy as “the use of battles to win the objective of war.” Military strategy is part of a trinity of “arts” or “sciences” in military science, along with tactics—the execution of plans and the maneuvering of units in combat—and logistics—the maintenance of an armed force.

The board game Stratego has little to nothing to do with strategy. That is an operation (or the execution of something) with tactical elements.

Strategy

Situation Not strategy, an ambition at most True strategy (or it come a long way)
Fitness "I want to loose 10 kilos by tough training." "I'll focus on power training because my metabolism is low, and I'' lower my sugar intake to improve my insulin levels."
Business "It's our strategy to offer best service and lowest prices." "We choose a low budget market by reducing luxury (like IKEA or Ryanair) knowing that this message will reach a specific target audience."

What is a true strategy?

Of course, if you ask 10 experts, you’ll get at least 11 definitions. However, I can work perfectly well with this one.

  1. Diagnosis or an honest analysis of the challenge. What is the actual problem or challenge?
  2. Guiding principles: A general approach to dealing with the obstacles from the diagnosis.
  3. Consistent actions: A set of actions that reinforce each other to carry out those principles.

 

In short: A strategy is a set of choices about what you are NOT going to do, to increase the chance of success in what you DO.

I've asked AI to come up with an answer

I don’t blindly go along with what Generative AI provides when I ask a question (or enter a prompt). One of the great dangers of GenAI is that it reacts like a Golden Retriever. It has a will to please. It would rather invent an answer than say “I don’t know.” Then GenAI starts making things up, and this phenomenon is known as various forms of hallucination. Watch out for what hallucinating AI does. It’s funny at first, but with a bit of correction, it actually becomes valuable.

Be part of the exiting world of toilet paper

I use toilet paper to have a clean butt!

That’s not a strategy. At most, that’s an ambition. A strategy good enough to wipe your ass.

The prompt

Devise a model strategy for a fictitious company that manufactures toilet paper from recycling.

GenAI answers

Let’s think of a company called “ReRoll.” To avoid the trap of the “misused term,” we create a strategy based on hard choices (what do we do, and what explicitly do we NOT do?).

The diagnosis/ problem definition

The market for recycled toilet paper is saturated with “gray and rough” paper for the business market (airports, offices) or extremely expensive “eco-hip” brands for the elite. The challenge is: how do we conquer the masses without entering a price war with giants like Page or Edet?

Guiding principle:

ReRoll does not compete on “sustainability” as a niche, but on a luxury experience for a mainstream price, made possible by a radically efficient local recycling chain.

  • The Trade-off: We do not invest in TV commercials or hip packaging. We do invest in patented technology to make paper fibers soft.
  • Unique Selling Point (USP): The softest paper on the market, which is 100% recycled.

Consistent action/ approach

Strategy (The Direction)

Focus on removing the prejudice that recycled paper is abrasive. We position ourselves on the shelf directly next to A-brands, not in the “natural corner.”

  • Choice: We sell only through supermarkets (mass market), not through specialty stores.

Tactics (The Method)

  • Product: Use of a “closed loop” where we collect used toilet paper from the distribution centers of the supermarkets we sell to, which generates logistical profit.
  • Marketing: Blind testing campaigns “The Clean Softness” in supermarkets to prove the tangible difference.
  • Price: Stay 10% below the price of the market-leading A-brand through zero-waste production.

Operation (The Action)

  • Procurement: Daily monitoring of paper pulp quality from recycling streams.
  • Production: Running softening rollers 24/7.
  • Logistics: Trucks delivering paper to the factory immediately take rolls back to the supermarket hubs.

Support (The Foundation)

  • R&D: A team of engineers constantly working on chlorine-free paper bleaching (to deliver on the eco-claim without chlorine).
  • HR: Recruiting process technicians with experience in circular systems.
  • IT: A dashboard that calculates CO2 savings per roll live for our retail partners’ annual reports.

Not completely happy with the AI response, I reacted to with a new prompt...

It’s impossible to recycle toilet paper based on used toilet paper!

GenAI talks its way out

You are absolutely right. That is a sharp and necessary correction! The term “recycling” in the paper industry can indeed be confusing, and the idea of processing used toilet paper back into new toilet paper is (fortunately) impossible from a hygienic, technical, and aesthetic point of view.

In the context of my example with ReRoll, the “diagnosis” and “strategy” were based on the wrong assumption of the resource flow. Let’s set the facts straight and adjust the strategy accordingly.

 

The Reality of “Recycled” Toilet Paper

Recycled toilet paper is never made from used toilet paper (which disappears down the sewer). It is made from two specific waste streams:

  1. Pre-consumer waste: Trimmings from paper mills (for example, when making envelopes or notebooks).
  2. Post-consumer waste: Used paper that is not contaminated with sanitary waste or food scraps. Think of old newspapers, magazines, office collections, and cardboard.

The Corrected Strategy for ReRoll

If we want to position ReRoll seriously in the market, the strategy must be based on the real source: high-quality office paper waste.

The New Diagnosis

The market for “white and soft” toilet paper is dominated by freshly harvested wood pulp (virgin pulp). Recycled paper is often gray because it is made from mixed waste paper (newspapers/flyers). The challenge is: how do we get white, soft paper without cutting down trees and without heavy chemical bleaching agents?

The Strategic Choice (The “Pivot”)

ReRoll chooses Vertical Integration with the Office Market.

  • The Choice: We do not get our paper from general waste processors (where everything is piled together), but we enter into direct contracts with large banks and governments for their white paper waste (confidential documents that are shredded).
  • The Advantage: This paper is high quality, white, and contains long fibers. This means we need fewer chemicals to make it white and soft again.

Tactics and Operation (Adjusted)

  • Tactics: Marketing focusing on “From Annual Report to Toilet Roll.” We make the process transparent.
  • Operation: Investing in closed “shredder trucks” that visit offices. The paper goes directly into the soaking tank, minimizing transport costs and raw material contamination.

Why this correction makes the strategy stronger:

By replacing the impossible source (used toilet paper) with a logistically smart source (office paper), we transform a “dirty” idea into a circular business model. The strategy is now about smartly managing the supply chain instead of just about the final product.

Moral of the story: A strategy based on a factual error will fail immediately in the real world. The “Diagnosis” must therefore always be correct.

Why this is a good strategy:

  1. It is specific: We are not trying to “improve the world” in general; we are trying to be the softest in a specific price range.
  2. It involves choices: We say no to the business-to-business market (B2B) and no to expensive lifestyle branding.
  3. It is consistent: The tactics (local recycling) directly support the strategy (low price through logistical advantage).