Strategy.

There have been a lot of great strategies both within the world of advertising and without. For instance, I'm sure both Hitler and Napoleon thought they had a pretty good strategy when they invaded Russia. My guess is that the generals and planners and (ugh) strategists involved said to anyone who would listen, "this strategy will make me famous, rich and powerful."

Strategies are great.

But in the end, they are only pieces of paper or collections of bits.

What matters really isn't the strategy but what you do with it, how you adjust to the situation you're in. After all, no one not involved with your strategy has to cooperate with it anymore than the Russians did at Stalingrad, or Kursk, or Leningrad.

We spend a lot of times on strategies in our business. They have their own category of awards and people who create them are most-often unassailable because they produce something as pure and bright as a DeBeers diamond.

Strategies don't have to get their hands dirty and do the hard work you have to do.

That's up to you.