Stratography: The art of conceptualizing and communicating strategy

Representations of strategy tend to either be so generalized as to have little real meaning for employees, or go into such detail that people struggle to understand what is really required. The problem is this: a strategy not understood by those charged with implementing it is as bad as, or even worse than, not having a strategy at all. In 1983, a classic Business Horizons article by Karl Weick highlighted the importance of using graphical approaches to overcome strategy relation challenges; however, since then, little has been written regarding how managers might accomplish this successfully. Our article argues that individualized drawings of strategy, or what we term ‘stratography,’ could enable more effective conceptualization and communication of the strategic complexity that organizations face and the paths they are seeking to follow. Herein, we employ the latest thinking in cartography, educational philosophy, optics, graphic design, and military protocol to outline seven good practices of effective stratography.

[1]  T. O'Shannassy,et al.  Contemporary strategic management practice in Australia: "Back to the future" in the 2000s , 2007 .

[2]  H. Gardner,et al.  Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences , 1983 .

[3]  Paul W. Foos,et al.  Presentation format effects in working memory: The role of attention , 2005, Memory & cognition.

[4]  Lih-Juan ChanLin,et al.  The Effects of Verbal Elaboration and Visual Elaboration on Student Learning , 1997 .

[5]  G. Hull,et al.  Locating the Semiotic Power of Multimodality , 2005 .

[6]  G. Kress,et al.  Multimodal Discourse: The Modes and Media of Contemporary Communication , 2002 .

[7]  Sarah Kaplan,et al.  Strategy and PowerPoint: An Inquiry into the Epistemic Culture and Machinery of Strategy Making , 2011, Organ. Sci..

[8]  Edward R. Tufte,et al.  Envisioning Information , 1990 .

[9]  P. Fayers,et al.  The Visual Display of Quantitative Information , 1990 .

[10]  General Lee and a School of Commerce , 1926, Journal of Political Economy.

[11]  Renée Mauborgne,et al.  Blue ocean strategy. , 2004, Harvard business review.

[12]  D. Wood,et al.  The power of maps , 1992 .

[13]  Robert Aaron Gordon,et al.  Higher Education for Business , 1959 .

[14]  Barbara Czarniawska,et al.  Weick, Karl E. , 1998 .

[15]  Matthew B. Crawford.  Shop Class as Soulcraft: An Inquiry into the Value of Work , 2009 .

[16]  Stephen Cummings,et al.  The future shape of strategy: Lemmings or chimeras? , 2004 .

[17]  Henry Mintzberg,et al.  Organigraphs: drawing how companies really work. , 1999, Harvard business review.

[18]  J. R. Ficklen,et al.  Recollections and Letters of General Robert E. Lee , 1905 .

[19]  Hartmut Esslinger,et al.  A Fine Line: How Design Strategies Are Shaping the Future of Business , 2009 .

[20]  M. McDaniel,et al.  Learning Styles , 2008, Psychological science in the public interest : a journal of the American Psychological Society.

[21]  R. Kaplan,et al.  The Balanced Scorecard: Translating Strategy into Action , 1996 .

[22]  Edward R. Tufte,et al.  The Visual Display of Quantitative Information , 1986 .

[23]  Frank C. Pierson,et al.  The Education of American Businessmen , 1959 .

[24]  Ken Garland,et al.  Mr. Beck's Underground Map , 1994 .

[25]  R. Kaplan,et al.  The office of strategy management. , 2005, Harvard business review.

[26]  R. Kaplan,et al.  Strategy Maps: Converting Intangible Assets into Tangible Outcomes , 2003 .

[27]  Roger Martin.  The Design of Business: Why Design Thinking is the Next Competitive Advantage , 2009 .

[28]  K. Weick.  Misconceptions about managerial productivity , 1983 .