#470: Greg Meredith | Strategic Planning vs. Strategy

In this episode, I sit down with Greg Meredith, founder of Simply Strategic, to distinguish the crucial difference between having a strategic plan and actually possessing a strategy. We dive deep into Greg’s "9 Keystones" Simply Strategic framework, exploring how companies can identify their unique "Winning Position" on the battlefield of business. Greg explains why true strategy requires painful trade-offs, the importance of the "Opposite Rule" in decision-making, and how to successfully integrate high-level strategy into a daily business operating system for long-term execution.

Top 10 Takeaways

• Strategy vs. Planning: Planning is the process, but the goal is a specific "Winning Position" on the competitive landscape.
• The Opposite Rule: If the opposite of your strategy looks ridiculous (e.g., "we give bad service"), you haven't made a real choice.
• The Power of Trade-offs: You cannot say "yes" to what matters most without aggressively saying "no" to other opportunities.
• Pick Your Hill: Companies usually win on one of five hills: Singular, Integrated, Preferred, Potent, or Scaled
• True Company Assets: Real assets aren't just on the balance sheet; they are the rare or "unmatchable" capabilities competitors can't copy.
• The Bullseye: Define success multi-dimensionally: set specific targets for culture, operations, and clients, not just revenue.
• Embrace the "Messy Middle": High-trust teams must fight through tension and disagreement to reach true alignment.
• 3 Phases of Strategy: A complete cycle requires three distinct phases: Prepare, Plan, and Persist.
• Progress Over Perfection: A 70% plan executed today is better than waiting indefinitely for a perfect strategy.
• Strategy Needs a System: A strategic plan is useless without a business operating system (like EOS) to ensure execution.

Key Quotes

• "We start with this core definition of strategy is using company assets to create a high-impact winning position." - Greg Meredith
• "Can you define your strategy in such a way that a logical, savvy, even wise competitor would look at the opposite of your strategy and say, hey, that's viable, that's a good strategy." - Greg Meredith
• "Strategy is about intentionally saying, we're gonna go there, we're gonna hold that ground, we're gonna win from that place."- Greg Meredith
• "It's about trade-offs... You have to say no if you're really gonna say yes to the things that are most important."- Greg Meredith
• "It's gravity, it's not earthquakes... We want to put in that consistent pull. Here's where we are, here's what we're working on, not we're going to have this one-time event that's going to shake everything up."- Greg Meredith

Greg Meredith

Greg Meredith is the founder of Simply Strategic, a consultancy dedicated to helping small and mid-sized businesses ($2M - $500M revenue) build and execute actionable strategic plans. With a background in private equity and over 75 strategic engagements, Greg guides leadership teams through his "9 Keystones" framework. He focuses on helping owners define their "winning position," leverage unique company assets, and transition from planning to persisting, ensuring strategy integrates seamlessly with daily operations.

Chapters

• (00:00:00) - Independence by Design: Strategic Plan with Greg Meredith
• (00:01:08) - Back to Strategic Planning With Dan
• (00:01:59) - What Strategic Planning Is Really All About
• (00:03:51) - The 3-Step Process of Strategy
• (00:06:19) - What is a Strategic Plan and How to Win?
• (00:09:31) - Ownership Operating System vs Strategy
• (00:12:23) - Management: Say No to Everything
• (00:14:50) - The Opposite Rule in Strategy
• (00:19:06) - Mutual Funds and Expanding Their Business
• (00:24:55) - The Trust Factor in a Board Meeting
• (00:30:56) - President Trump on Handoff of the Ball
• (00:31:46) - The Winning Positions
• (00:34:17) - Quantum of Singularity: The Only Business with Access to Rare
• (00:40:29) - Importance of Scale in Building Products
• (00:42:03) - Three Winning Positions and None of the Others
• (00:44:09) - Executives: The Future of Connected Business
• (00:49:34) - Bradley: Strategic Planning, The 3 Phases
• (00:52:14) - The 3 Phase