The CEO, the Whiteboard...and the Big Mistake
Why strategy is not slides.
Another typical CEO strategy session.
Whiteboard gleaming, markers ready.
A “let’s figure this out” moment.
The mistake? No strategic frame for the conversation.
You’re about to have a tactics discussion, not a strategy one.
One of the secrets about corporate strategy that most people won’t tell you - it’s 80% about communication and only 20% tools. If you can’t say the strategy in one sentence, no tool will save you.
Most whiteboard sessions fail because the leadership team is unaligned on the big choices before they start mapping details.
We do this so often, that we often forget to return to first principles. We forget that strategy precedes structure.
And structure - structure follows choice.
Strategy Isn’t Slides
Strategy is not:
A slide deck
A vision statement
A wish list of deliverables
Or a dozen arrows pointing in different directions
Strategy is a set of clear, deliberate choices.
“The heart of strategy is not goal-setting—it’s coherence.”
— Richard Rumelt, Good Strategy / Bad Strategy“The essence of strategy is choosing what not to do.”
— Michael Porter
If you read The Signal is Clear, you will know that BrightSpark Bureau Bulletins are for those navigating the tension between clarity and pressure.
This post is for the CEOs, founders, and transformation leads walking into another whiteboard session—this time, with alignment.
So, back to the basics.
Checklist Before the Marker Touches the Board:
What key choices are we making?
What are we solving for? What are the outcomes we are looking for?
What’s in scope—and what’s not (strategy vs. operations)?
Then — and only then — pick up the whiteboard marker.
“Unless you decide what not to do, strategy is just wishful thinking with diagrams.”
— Paraphrased from Lafley & Martin, Playing to Win“
What’s your go-to method for turning a blank whiteboard into action?
Drop it in the comments — or better yet, send us your favourite strategy session war story.