#21 Strategy and tactics - what the military understood before businesses and territories

There are worlds that theorized and practiced, long before the civilian world, what business leaders and regional managers are now urgently rediscovering: the distinction between strategy and tactics. The art of war, as codified by Sun Tzu twenty-five centuries ago. Modern military command, as embodied and formalized by General Pierre de Villiers in his writings. And top-level rugby, as practiced by the All Blacks with an admirable consistency. Three worlds, three experiences, one single lesson: without a clear strategic vision, the best tactical actions are lost in the noise. Without rigorous tactical execution, the most ambitious visions remain a dead letter.

The fundamental distinction—what we're really talking about

The confusion between strategy and tactics is not insignificant. It's costly: millions invested in communication plans without a clear direction, economic development initiatives undertaken hastily without overall coherence, and attractiveness campaigns launched without a real positioning. Let's begin by defining them precisely.

Strategy: Defining the Desired End Out

Strategy answers three fundamental questions: Where do we want to go? Why do we need to go there? What guiding principles will we follow? It is long-term—three, five, ten years—and is part of a comprehensive vision. For a company, it means deciding on its distinctive positioning in the face of the competition. For a region, it means choosing which sectors to develop, the profile of residents and investors to attract, and the identity to build.

In the military vocabulary that General de Villiers popularized, this compass has a precise name: the desired end out (DE). It is the result we want to achieve at the end of an operation. Without a clearly defined DE, troops can become agitated, advance, even win local battles—and still lose the war.

"Strategy without tactics is the slowest path to victory. Tactics without strategy are the noise before defeat."

Sun Tzu, The Art of War, 5th century BC

Tactics: The Art of Action in the Moment

Tactics, for their part, answer the question: how do we concretely, here and now, move towards our objectives? They encompass all the resources deployed—marketing campaigns, events, digital tools, operational partnerships, real-time decision-making, and more. They are adaptable, reactive, and must constantly be reassessed based on the results obtained and the reactions of the opponent or the environment.

Sports science researchers have formulated this distinction with a clarity particularly useful for our discussion:

Academic Definition — Sports Science

“Strategy involves developing a game plan prior to action, while tactics aim to establish a game plan during the action. While strategic choices aim to exploit a team's strengths, tactical decisions take into account the opponent's reactions.”

This definition, originating from the world of sports, applies directly to the world of organizations: strategy is developed before the action, in the background, with hindsight. Tactics are developed during the action, in direct contact with reality, taking into account the resistance and opportunities that arise.

General de Villiers' lesson: see above the fray

In his books—Serving (2017), What Is a Leader? (2018), and Balance Is Courage (2020)—General Pierre de Villiers offers profound reflections on strategic leadership that resonate particularly strongly with business leaders and regional managers. His thinking powerfully echoes what Sun Tzu formulated twenty-five centuries earlier.

“Military personnel are specialists in strategy. They see far ahead, above tactics, what the desired end result is. They have a vision above the fray.”

General Pierre de Villiers, RCF

“Seeing above the fray”—this phrase should be displayed in every boardroom and in every regional director’s office. Because this is precisely what civilian leaders do far too infrequently: take a step back to distinguish what is urgent from what is important, immediate action from long-term vision.

The Tyranny of Tactics—A Clearly Identified Problem

One of his most insightful observations is to name this phenomenon we see in all organizations: the constant pressure for immediacy that stifles strategic thinking.

“Everything pulls us toward tactics and immediate action, to the detriment of a strategic vision and long-term impact.”

Pierre de Villiers, Servir, Fayard, 2017

The tyranny of urgency, the pressure for short-term results, the proliferation of digital demands—everything conspires to trap organizations in the instantaneous. An elected official who inaugurates before defining their development vision. A leader who launches campaigns without a clear positioning. A manager who holds numerous operational meetings without ever taking the time for strategic reflection. De Villiers would have recognized the same fundamental error in each of these cases.

The Strategic Leader: Setting the Course, Embodying the Vision

Strategy cannot remain a confidential document circulating within executive committees. It must be championed, understood, and embodied—first by leaders, then by the teams. And this requires a particular type of leadership.

“A leader must know where they are going, why they are going there, and bring others along with them.”

General Pierre de Villiers, What is a Leader?, Fayard, 2018

Maintaining a strategic course in the face of pressure, doubt, and tempting alternatives that arise along the way—this is what de Villiers calls strategic courage. And this courage is not exercised in isolation: it comes through relationships with teams, through the ability to lead, explain, and persuade.

“We too often forget to wield authority with humanity. And in our overly stressful times, we sometimes think we are wasting our time saying hello, shaking hands, listening to each other, and exchanging ideas. Yet this is how we gain recognition, esteem, and effectiveness.”

General Pierre de Villiers, To Serve, Fayard, 2017

Strategy without people is fiction. Ultimately, it is through the teams that make up the organization that the strategy is realized — or fails.

Sun Tzu, Master of the Strategy-Tactics Interplay

Twenty-five centuries before consulting firms popularized the term "corporate strategy," Sun Tzu had already laid its foundations in The Art of War. This short text—about a hundred pages—is now considered one of the most widely read management works in business schools and corporate leadership worldwide. And for good reason: Sun Tzu understood before anyone else that victory is not won solely on the battlefield, but also in the mind, long before the fighting begins.

Knowing the enemy, knowing yourself: the foundation of all strategy

Sun Tzu's strategic thinking rests on an absolute prerequisite for any tactical decision: knowledge. Knowledge of one's environment, one's competitors, and one's own strengths and weaknesses.

"Know your enemy and know yourself; even if you had to fight a hundred wars, you would still be victorious a hundred times over."

Sun Tzu, The Art of War

Applied to the world of business or regional development, this maxim is absolutely relevant. How many organizations have launched ambitious strategies without having conducted a serious analysis of their competitive environment? How many regions have launched attractiveness campaigns without first objectively identifying their true distinctive strengths and areas of vulnerability? Knowing your "enemy"—the competition, the market, underlying trends—and knowing yourself: this is the starting point of any serious strategy.

Tactical Opportunism in Service of Strategy

Where Sun Tzu is particularly valuable for modern leaders is in his conception of the relationship between strategy and tactics. For him, strategy defines the framework and the ultimate goal. Within this framework, tactics must be fluid, adaptable, and capable of seizing the opportunities presented by the situation.

“In war, there are no constant conditions. He who can modify his tactics according to the adversary deserves to be called a genius of strategy.”

Sun Tzu, The Art of War

This is a lesson that the most agile companies and regions have internalized: strategy sets the course—it is fixed and stable. But the methods of its execution must constantly adapt to market reactions, changes in the competitive landscape, and emerging opportunities. Tactical rigidity is as serious a flaw as the absence of strategic vision.

“Every battle is won or lost before it is fought.”

Sun Tzu, The Art of War

This formula perhaps best summarizes the primacy of strategy over tactics. The battle—or the commercial campaign, or the territorial development operation—is won in the strategic preparation phase, well before the first actions are launched. Organizations that neglect this phase of reflection and preparation find themselves “playing catch-up,” reactive rather than proactive, subject to the initiatives of their competitors rather than imposing their own.”

The All Blacks: When Strategy Becomes a Culture

If Sun Tzu theorized the primacy of strategy and de Villiers embodied its requirements in modern military command, the New Zealand All Blacks have perhaps provided its most spectacular demonstration in the world of contemporary sport. For decades, the New Zealand national rugby team has boasted a win rate exceeding 77%—a performance unmatched in world-class sport.

How can this dominance be explained?

James Kerr, a journalist and leadership consultant, spent several weeks with the All Blacks and wrote *Legacy* (2013), a book that has become a global reference in management.

His conclusion: the All Blacks' secret is not tactical. It's not their style of play, their training, or their game plans that explain their superiority. It's their cultural strategy—a long-term vision of what it means to be an All Black, and how each generation contributes to something greater than itself.

The vision beyond the immediate result

The All Blacks' best-known principle—and the one with the most valuable lessons for civilian organizations—is summed up in a simple formula, passed down from generation to generation within the group:

"Leave the jersey in a better place."

Founding principle of the All Blacks, as reported by James Kerr, Legacy, 2013

This formula perfectly encapsulates a long-term strategy. It tells the players: you are not here to shine individually, or even just to win the next match. You are here to contribute to something greater than yourself—the excellence of the All Blacks institution over decades. Tactical decisions—how to play, who to field, what game plan to adopt—always serve this long-term strategic vision.

For a company or a region, the equivalent question would be: in what state will we leave our organization, our brand, our territory to those who come after us? This is a profoundly strategic question that should guide every tactical decision in the present.

Culture as a lasting strategic advantage

“Champions do extra.”

All Blacks Principle, James Kerr, Legacy, 2013

The All Blacks understood before many civilian organizations that the most enduring competitive advantage is not tactical—it's not a game plan, a technology, or a marketing budget. It's cultural. A shared culture of excellence, embedded in daily behaviors, passed down from one generation to the next, is infinitely harder to copy than a technique or a plan of action.

In management terms, we would say that the All Blacks transformed their strategy into an organizational culture. The distinction between strategy and tactics disappeared—not because they confused them, but because strategy became so deeply ingrained in daily behaviors that it naturally guides every tactical decision.”

“No dickheads. — No room for toxic individualists.”

All Blacks selection rule, as reported by James Kerr, Legacy, 2013

This unwritten selection rule—which the All Blacks rigorously apply, including excluding technically brilliant players who don't respect team values—perfectly illustrates the primacy of strategy over tactics. A player can be tactically exceptional but strategically incompatible. In that case, strategy prevails.

Sweep the sheds : la grandeur dans les petites choses

« Sweep the sheds. — Balaie les vestiaires toi-même, même si tu es une star. »

Principe All Blacks, James Kerr, Legacy, 2013

Ce principe — les joueurs, y compris les plus grandes stars, nettoient eux-mêmes les vestiaires après chaque match — est peut-être le plus contre-intuitif et le plus riche d'enseignements. Il dit : la stratégie s'incarne dans les actes du quotidien, même les plus modestes. L'humilité, la responsabilité collective, le sens du service ne sont pas des valeurs qu'on affiche dans un document stratégique — ce sont des comportements qu'on pratique quotidiennement.

Pour une organisation civile, le message est direct : la stratégie la mieux formulée ne vaut rien si elle n'est pas incarnée dans les comportements de tous les jours. Le dirigeant qui prêche l'excellence et qui tolère la médiocrité dans les détails envoie un message contradictoire. La cohérence entre la vision stratégique affichée et les actes quotidiens — à tous les niveaux de l'organisation — est ce qui fait la différence entre les organisations qui avancent et celles qui s'agitent.

« Create a learning environment. — Crée un environnement où l'on apprend en permanence. »

Principe All Blacks, James Kerr, Legacy, 2013

The constant tactical adaptation advocated by Sun Tzu finds its organizational expression here: a culture of continuous learning, where each match, each campaign, each action is analyzed to feed the next tactical iteration — always in service of the long-term strategic vision.

Looking Higher to Act Right

Sun Tzu, de Villiers, the All Blacks. Three worlds, three eras, three cultures. One fundamental conviction: lasting victory—in war, in leadership, in sport—is not achieved through tactical excellence alone. It is built on the clarity and consistency of the strategic vision, on the coherence between this vision and the resources mobilized, and on the ability to embody it collectively on a daily basis.

For businesses and regions, the lesson is the same. Tactical competence—knowing how to do, knowing how to execute, knowing how to react—is necessary. But it is not enough. What makes the difference is the clarity of the desired end result. It is the coherence between ambitions and resources. It is the courage to stay the course in the face of urgent pressures. And it is the ability to make strategy a shared culture rather than a management document.

“Every battle is won or lost before it is fought.”

Sun Tzu, The Art of War

“Strategic autonomy requires a ten-year vision and a plan that restores coherence between threats, missions, and resources.”

General Pierre de Villiers, For the Success of France’s Armed Forces, Fayard, 2025

“Leave the jersey in a better place.”

Founding principle of the All Blacks

At Alps, we have made this requirement for coherence our guiding principle. We help our clients formulate their strategic vision with clarity and insight, and then translate this vision into coherent, measurable, and sustainable actions. No strategy without execution. No execution without leadership. And in both cases, always: the men and women at the heart of the operation.