Strategy on a Page

Strategy fails most often not because it is wrong but because no one can recite it. This one-pager is the antidote, and it is deliberately framework-neutral: use it above OKRs, EOS, OGSM, or anything else. The section that does the most work is the last one, the explicit not-doing list. A strategy that never says what you are giving up is a wish list, and it is the part most plans quietly omit.

STRATEGY ON A PAGE — ________  Year: ______

WHERE WE ARE GOING (the ambition, in two sentences)
  __________________________

WHY NOW (the insight or change that makes this the moment)
  __________________________

HOW WE WIN (the few real choices, 3-5)
  - __________________________
  - __________________________
  - __________________________

PRIORITIES THIS YEAR (what we are actually doing about it)
  1. __________   Owner: ______
  2. __________   Owner: ______
  3. __________   Owner: ______

HOW WE MEASURE SUCCESS (a few outcomes, not a dashboard)
  - __________   - __________

WHAT WE ARE NOT DOING (explicit trade-offs)
  - __________   - __________

How to use this template

1. Write the ambition so anyone in the company could repeat it. If it needs the deck to make sense, it is not yet on a page.
2. Limit how-we-win to a few real choices. If a competitor could claim the same line, it is a platitude, not a strategy.
3. Give each yearly priority an owner. A priority with no owner is a hope shared by the whole company and held by no one.
4. Fill the not-doing list honestly. The trade-offs you name are what make the rest of the page believable.

Frequently asked questions

Does strategy on a page replace OKRs or EOS?

No, it sits above them. The one-pager states the direction and the choices; OKRs, EOS Rocks, or OGSM are how you operationalize and track it through the year.

Why include a not-doing list?

Because strategy is choice, and a plan that only adds priorities without naming trade-offs overloads teams and quietly fails. The not-doing list is what makes the focus real.