Why Strategic Advice Varies Wildly in Quality

Strategic advice is a broad category that ranges from rigorous, evidence-based analysis to recycled frameworks applied without context. The challenge for leaders who are not strategy specialists is distinguishing between the two. Confident delivery and impressive frameworks can mask thin analysis just as easily as they can communicate genuine insight.

Good strategic advice changes how you see a problem. It reveals dynamics you had not considered, challenges assumptions you had not questioned, and identifies options you had not evaluated. Bad strategic advice confirms what you already believed, applies generic frameworks without adaptation, and provides recommendations that could apply to any company in any industry.

The Seven-Point Quality Checklist

1. Does it start with diagnosis, not prescription? Good strategy starts by identifying the specific challenge or opportunity. If the advice jumps straight to recommendations without first establishing what problem it is solving, it is likely generic.

2. Is it specific to your situation? Read the recommendations and ask: could these apply to any company in my industry? If yes, the analysis is too generic to be useful. Good advice reflects the specific dynamics of your company, your market, and your competitive position.

3. Does it make trade-offs explicit? Any recommendation that does not identify what you would need to give up is incomplete. Strategy is about choices. If the advice says you can have everything without trade-offs, it is not strategy — it is wishful thinking.

4. Are the assumptions stated? Every strategic recommendation rests on assumptions about the market, competitors, and your capabilities. If those assumptions are not stated explicitly, you cannot evaluate whether the recommendations are valid.

5. Is there contradictory evidence acknowledged? Good analysts actively seek and address evidence that contradicts their recommendations. If the advice presents only supporting evidence, confirmation bias is likely at work.

6. Are the recommendations actionable? Can you actually implement what is being recommended? Advice to "build a culture of innovation" is not actionable. Advice to "allocate 20% of engineering capacity to adjacent innovation projects with quarterly stage-gate reviews" is.

7. Does it differentiate between what is known and what is estimated? Honest analysis distinguishes between facts, informed estimates, and assumptions. When everything is presented with equal confidence, the analysis is less trustworthy than when uncertainty is acknowledged transparently.

Getting Better Strategic Advice

The quality of strategic advice you receive is partly a function of the quality of the questions you ask. When commissioning strategic work, be specific about the decision you are trying to make, the alternatives you are considering, and the information you lack. Vague requests ("we need a strategy") produce vague output. Specific requests ("should we enter Market X, and if so, through acquisition or organic build?") produce specific, actionable analysis.

Create feedback loops with your advisors. Tell them what was useful and what was not. Share the outcomes of decisions made based on their advice. This feedback improves the quality of future advice and builds a more productive advisory relationship.