It is common to work with companies that want to “be number one in the market.” They make it their entire strategy. A big dream, no map, they build more branches, hire more staff, and advertise everywhere.

However, within a short period, cash dries up. Why? They confuse growth with strategy. Like a ship adding more sails without checking if the hull has holes.

Most businesses are not killed by competitors. They die by self-inflicted wounds of poor strategic thinking.

1. Mistake one: confusing vision with execution. Leaders write grand statements on paper but never build the rhythms of delivery. Strategy is not a retreat binder; it is the discipline of daily choices.
2. Mistake two: chasing everything. I saw a telco that kept diversifying, into mobile banking, farming, entertainment, and even cooking oil. The result was scattered leadership, no clear core, and wasted capital. Strategy is choice, not shopping.
3. Mistake three: ignoring culture. A logistics firm I diagnosed had the best PowerPoint strategy, but staff culture was toxic. Late arrivals, gossip in the canteen, finger-pointing. Culture ate the glossy plan for breakfast.
4. Mistake four: weak feedback loops. A bank I guided had no system to track if its bold five-year plan was working. Decisions were based on anecdotes, not data. By the time they realized deposits were leaking, it was too late.

The leadership challenge is to stop confusing activity with progress.

Mr Strategy’s subtraction tool

Most executives love to add more products, more projects, and more meetings. But real strategy begins with subtraction. What you stop doing matters more than what you start. When I deep dive into a business, the killers are never the bold ideas. It is the clutter, the sacred cows, the unchallenged routines that drain oxygen.

Here is how to apply the subtraction tool tomorrow.

Step 1: Name your top three strategic choices

Sit with your leadership team. Be brutally clear. Do you want to dominate a customer segment? Cut costs by 20%? Enter a new market? Write down only three. Not five, not ten. Just three.

Step 2: For each choice, identify stop decisions

Ask: What must we stop doing for this to happen? For example:

1. If your choice is “be the low-cost leader,” stop custom projects that drain resources.
2. If your choice is “dominate customer experience,” stop tolerating managers who never visit the front line.
3. If your choice is “expand regionally,” stop funding vanity headquarters upgrades.

Step 3: Translate stop-decisions into visible rules

Write them down, publish them, and enforce them. For example: “No project over $50,000 without direct customer revenue potential.” Everyone must see the trade-off.

Step 4: Measure weekly

Do not wait for quarterly reviews. Each week, check if the stop-decisions are being honored. If someone violated the rule, why? If you cannot enforce subtraction weekly, you will never achieve addition annually.

Mr Strategy’s subtraction tool

As CEO, the courage to say no is the essence of strategy. Every “yes” without a “no” attached is a disguised drift.

A leader who cannot say no has no strategy.

I remain, Mr Strategy