Given two teams, one with great strategists and one with mediocre strategists that can communicate effectively, the mediocre will always win*.
Ok. That’s a grand assertion for which I have no statistics. And maybe some hyperbole crept in. But as I’ve worked on various teams, one thing that has consistently been either the conduit of success or the minefield of utter destruction is communication.
If a team cannot communicate, execution is going to be challenging at best. Emails get lost. Plans get miscommunicated and therefore mis-executed. And some poor kid is sent home without any cake. No body likes to be the only one without cake. If all of this is true (and you know I think it is), then just as important as a good plan is a good plan of communicating. And while there are various means of communication (email, text, twitter, carrier pigeon), all I’m claiming is that a shared consistency is important. Good communication is better than bad communication on the fanciest new medium.
Good ideas are important. Good strategies are important. But without good communication, ideas and strategies remain scribbles on a napkin.
*Yes, I know this was a bit of a silly hypothetical situation. Given that a team is comprised of “great strategists,” one would expect that a primary strategy in use is good communication. PSA over.