Many strategy documents run to forty pages or more. They contain market analysis, trend descriptions, competitor profiles and long lists of initiatives. They are often carefully made. They are also rarely read after the launch meeting.
A strategy is only useful if people can use it to make choices. That means they need to remember it, understand it and refer to it when a decision comes up. A single page makes this possible. It also forces the leadership team to do the hardest part of strategy work, which is choosing.
Why one page helps
Writing on one page exposes vague thinking. A long document can hide the fact that the leadership team never agreed on priorities. Every department's wishes can be included somewhere. On one page there is no room for that. If something is on the page, it matters. If it is not, it is not a priority.
A short strategy is also easier to share. In organisations with flat structures, where employees are expected to use their own judgement, people need to know the direction well enough to act on it without asking permission each time. A page they can read in five minutes serves that purpose far better than a report they will never open.
What to include
There is no single correct format, but a useful one-page strategy usually answers five questions.
- Where are we now? Two or three sentences on the current position, including the main challenge the organisation faces. Be honest. If customers are leaving, say so.
- Where are we going? A clear description of what the organisation wants to achieve in the next three to five years. Make it specific enough that you could tell whether you had got there.
- Where will we focus? Three or four priorities at most. These are the areas where the organisation will put extra money, time and attention.
- What will we stop or not do? The choices you have made to say no. This is often the most useful section on the page.
- How will we know we are on track? A handful of measures, each linked to a priority.
Imagine a regional engineering firm with a strong position in public infrastructure and slowing growth. Its one-page strategy might state that it aims to become the preferred partner for municipal water projects in its region, focus on three priorities such as building water expertise, winning framework agreements and improving project margins, and state plainly that it will no longer bid on small private building projects outside its core area. Anyone in the firm could read that and know which tender to prioritise next week.
What to leave out
The page holds the conclusions. The analysis behind them can live in an appendix or a separate document for those who need it. Leave out:
- Long descriptions of market trends that apply to every company in the industry
- Lists of every project currently running
- Values statements and mission wording, unless they directly shape the choices on the page
- General ambitions that any organisation could claim, such as "satisfied customers" or "engaged employees"
A good test for each line is to ask whether a competitor could have written it. If they could, it probably does not belong.
How to use it
Writing the page is the first step. Its value comes from how it is used afterwards.
Bring it into everyday decisions. When a new initiative is proposed, ask which of the priorities it supports. If it supports none, it needs a strong reason to go ahead. When budgets are set, check that the money follows the priorities on the page.
Let teams translate it. Each department can ask what the strategy means for them and write its own short version. This is where involvement matters most. People closer to the work will see implications the leadership team missed, and they will be more committed to a plan they helped shape.
Review it regularly. A quarterly check of progress against the measures keeps the strategy alive. Once a year, ask whether the choices still hold. Change the page if the situation has genuinely changed, though resist rewriting it every time results wobble.
A practical way to start
If you want to try this, set aside half a day with the leadership team. Have each person write their own answers to the five questions first, without discussion. Then compare. The differences between their answers will show exactly where the team has not yet agreed, and that is where the real strategy conversation needs to happen.
Closing thought
A strategy on one page is harder to write than a long one, because every line on it is a decision. That is exactly why it is worth doing. When people across the organisation can explain the direction in their own words and use it to choose what to work on, the strategy has done its job. Helping leadership teams get to that page is work Linje often does alongside clients.