What strategy really is

One of the biggest challenges in working with clients and developing strategies that work and sustain is that sometimes its hard to build a story on the unseen. I read (and have amended) a great quote from George Packer in the New Yorker on the Obama presidency, which sums it up quite well I think;  

"...it’s hard to build a narrative around actions considered and not taken, disasters possibly averted, hard realities accommodated. The story of what didn’t happen and why, isn’t an easy one to tell."  

In a world where strategy is beginning to be seen as only succeeding if seed capital funding is achieved, if a marketing campaign is recognised by The Drum or a business can release some PR showing innovation - sometimes (in my rambling experience anyway) less is more and that's where real strategy and strategic thinking succeeds.