Developing Strategic Focus: How to Think the Right Way to Lead the Right Way

Key Takeaways from this Blog Post:

• Strategic focus requires disciplined thinking and explicit trade-offs about where the organization will and will not compete.

• Great strategy stands on three reinforcing legs: a chosen value discipline, a differentiated X-Factor, and a repeatable flywheel.

• Organizations gain clarity and alignment when they intentionally choose how they will win rather than trying to be everything to everyone.

• Sustained growth is driven by a unique, 10x X-Factor that solves a core industry bottleneck others accept as unavoidable.

• Strategy becomes real when momentum compounds through a flywheel and is anchored by a clear, two-year Success Statement.

"The essence of strategy is choosing what not to do.” – Michael Porter

Strategic focus doesn’t happen by accident—it’s the product of intentional thinking. And yet, for many leaders, thinking strategically feels abstract, elusive, or intimidating. That’s because strategy requires clarity, prioritization, and the discipline to choose what matters most. As Michael Porter famously said, “The essence of strategy is choosing what not to do.”

In my work with executive teams, I’ve found that most strategy challenges don’t come from lack of ideas—they come from lack of focus. To help organizations build that focus, I rely on what I call the Three Legs of the Strategy Stool:

1. A clear Value Discipline (Treacy & Wiersema)

2. A defined X-Factor (your unique competitive advantage)

3. A momentum-building Flywheel (Jim Collins)

Together, these serve as the foundation for a powerful Success Statement—a two-year vision that drives planning, alignment, and execution.

Let’s explore each leg of the stool.

Treacy and Wiersema’s Value Disciplines Model outlines three distinct strategic lanes in which companies can choose to excel:

• Operational Excellence – delivering the lowest total cost

• Product Leadership – delivering the best product

• Customer Intimacy – delivering the best solution

Organizations that lack strategic focus often attempt to chase all three. But great companies choose one discipline as their core identity and align their decisions, investments, and culture around it.

Your value discipline becomes the first leg of strategic focus—your chosen lane for differentiation and competitive advantage.

Identify Your X-Factor: Solve the Bottleneck Others Can’t

The second strategic leg centers on identifying your X-Factor—a unique advantage gained by overcoming a persistent bottleneck in your industry.

Every industry has constraints: the largest cost driver, a chronic pain point, an inefficiency customers hate, or a capability competitors struggle to execute. Your X-Factor emerges by identifying that constraint and intentionally designing a solution that others cannot easily replicate.

To uncover it, ask:

• What is the biggest frustration in our industry?

• What creates the most anxiety or inefficiency for customers?

• What patterns consistently show up in conferences, breakout sessions, and market discussions?

• What is our industry's single biggest pain point?

• Which of these could we realistically overcome better than anyone else?
  

When you solve a constraint that defines your industry, you create exponential advantage—an edge that puts you two steps ahead of competitors before they even realize what happened. 

Build Your Flywheel: Create Momentum That Compounds

Jim Collins introduced the Flywheel Concept in Good to Great and later expanded it in Turning the Flywheel. The premise is simple:

Great organizations don’t rely on a single breakthrough—they build momentum through a series of reinforcing actions that spin the flywheel faster and faster.

The flywheel becomes your architecture of momentum. To build one:

1. Identify your repeatable successes.

2. Identify your failures and disappointments.

3. Compare the two lists to find patterns that reveal your momentum drivers.

4. Map a simple loop with 4–6 interconnected components.

5. Ensure each component naturally leads to the next (“we can’t help but…”).

6. Test the flywheel against Collins’ Hedgehog Concept:

   • What are we deeply passionate about?

   • What can we be best in the world at?

   • What drives our economic engine?

      

A strong flywheel transforms strategy from a theoretical plan into a living engine that accelerates results.

From the Three Legs to a Success Statement

Once your value discipline, X-Factor, and flywheel are clear, you can craft the element that ties them all together: your Success Statement.

This is a vivid, measurable picture of what success looks like in the next two years—not twenty. It answers three essential questions:

• What does success look like?

• Why does it matter?

• What will be true when we achieve it?

 A compelling Success Statement becomes: 

• The north star for planning

• The alignment tool for leaders

• The communicated promise to employees

• The filter for decision-making

When organizations have all three legs of the strategy stool firmly in place, their Success Statement becomes not just inspirational—but actionable.

Final Thoughts

Developing strategic focus isn’t about filling out templates or checking boxes. It’s about elevating the way your leadership team thinks. When leaders are disciplined in choosing their value lane, courageous in identifying their X-Factor, and intentional in building their flywheel, strategy stops being a “retreat activity” and becomes an organizational advantage.

Disclaimer: This blog is not legal advice, but merely informed opinion or general information provided for no particular purpose. Issues addressed in this blog often implicate federal, state, and local labor and employment laws. This blog is not intended as a substitute for legal advice. Readers should consult qualified labor and employment counsel to determine whether their policies, procedures, decisions, or courses of action comply with applicable laws.


Published articles represent the original thought and perspective of the author. While AI tools may be utilized to assist in overall effectiveness, the content reflects the author’s independent judgment and expertise.