Just because you’re busy doesn’t mean you’re winning

Some football teams are all fire and fury—quick passing, relentless pressing, constant attacking. Others are patient, methodical, waiting for the right moment to strike. These are tactics—the specific ways a team plays in a given match.

But behind the tactics lies something bigger: a strategy. A team’s strategy defines its long-term approach—whether it builds around youth or experience, prioritizes possession or counterattack, plays for immediate wins or sustainable dominance.

Tactics change from game to game, but strategy ensures a team isn’t just playing well today, but winning consistently over time. The same mistake football teams make—confusing tactics for strategy—happens in business and life all the time. You can master the short-term plays, execute brilliantly in the moment, but if there’s no bigger plan, you’re just improvising.

Sun Tzu, the Chinese military strategist, put it best in his treatise The Art of War, perhaps the world’s earliest treatise on strategic thinking and the psychology of warfare: “Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.” If you are thoughtful about strategy but lack in-game nous, it will take you very long to win. If you are full of short-term tactics but lack a long-term philosophy, you are only making a racket before you concede. You might be incredibly busy, making all the right moves, yet end up going nowhere.

The two go hand in hand. To put it in the language of Kenyans with an insatiable penchant for building, strategy is the blueprint, tactics are the bricks. Strategy is the long game—the reason you’re in the game. It codifies a belief system, sets direction, and clarifies what success looks like. Tactics are the daily actions, decisions, and manoeuvres that bring the strategy to life.

A company might decide its strategy is to win on customer experience by making every interaction feel effortless and reassuring, so switching to a competitor never crosses anyone’s mind. That means stripping out unnecessary steps, solving problems before they escalate, and making sure every touchpoint—digital or human—works like it should. The tactics? Rewriting confusing policies in plain language, fixing the clunky parts of their app, training frontline staff to spot frustration before it turns into churn—these are the concrete moves that bring the strategy to life.

A young professional might decide their strategy is to stand out by becoming the person who gets things done—no fuss, no drama, just results. That means tackling tricky problems, making life easier for bosses and colleagues, and proving they’re worth betting on. What might the tactics be? Volunteering for the projects no one wants, mastering the tools of the trade, speaking up with useful insights, and building relationships with people who open doors.

The biggest mistake you can make is mistaking one for the other. Many organizations and individuals fall into this trap: they confuse movement for progress. They focus so much on tactics—launching campaigns, setting up meetings, optimizing processes—that they forget to ask the fundamental question: Where are we going, and why?

Are you a CEO who spends all day firefighting but never defines a clear competitive edge? A company that chases every market trend but lacks a distinct identity? An employee who works long hours but never builds the skills that lead to real career growth? This is how you end up stuck in motion but never in control.

The best leaders understand that strategy and tactics aren’t enemies—they’re dance partners. You need both, moving in sync. Without strategy, tactics are just motion without meaning. It’s like running on a treadmill—plenty of effort, no forward movement. Without tactics, strategy is just wishful thinking.

Michael Porter, the business strategy guru, said it well: “The essence of strategy is choosing what not to do.” A good strategy helps you focus. It tells you which tactics matter—and which are just distractions. And Winston Churchill, cigar no doubt in hand, advised: “However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results.”

If you feel like you’re always busy but not really getting anywhere, take a step back. Are you executing tactics, or are you moving with a strategy? Are you reacting to what’s urgent, or are you steering toward something bigger? Tactics keep you moving, but only strategy ensures you’re moving in the right direction. Without it, you’re just running hard on a treadmill—exhausted but stuck in place.

Strategy is about doing the thinking; tactics are about knowing the world. People who go far aren’t the ones who just stay busy. They’re the ones who pause, think, and set a direction before they start moving. They don’t chase every opportunity or react to every demand. They know what matters and what doesn’t. The world is full of people running hard, but many are just running in circles. The ones who actually get somewhere? They understand when to push, when to step back, and most of all—what is really worth pushing toward.

(Sunday Nation, 16 March 2025)

Like it? Hate it? Engage here