♖ How to Write a Strategy-Vision Story + FREE Workbook

Hey Moaters,

I've been helping companies with direction for years, and I have a confession: I've been making it way too complicated.

What's in this issue:

• Why most strategic clarity work is actually a waste of time

• The only 2 things you need (strategy + vision)

• A free workbook that gets you there in 30 minutes

Why this matters: Your team should be able to recite your strategy-vision story, not hunt for it in a 47-slide deck.

My Learning Curve

I used to help clients create vision statements, mission statements, goals, values frameworks, and strategy pillars. Lots of workshops. Lots of word-smithing. Beautiful documents.

Here's what I learned: Most of it was utterly unnecessary.

So I started thinking: What do companies actually need to grow? What's the simplest version that still works?

It turns out to be much simpler than I thought.

What You Actually Need

You only need two things:

Strategy = Your lens 👓
Your unique perspective on the market and problems.

Vision = The picture 🖼️
What becomes visible when you look through that specific lens. The future you can see clearly because of how you view the world.

Here's why this matters: Strategy is your lens, vision is your picture. Without a clear lens, you get a blurry picture. Without any lens at all, everyone on your team sees something different. Most companies skip the lens and wonder why nobody sees the same vision.

Why vision-first leads to trouble:

When you start with vision ("Where do we want to go?") before strategy ("How do we see the world differently?"), you end up with generic aspirations that could belong to anyone. "Be the leading provider of..." or "Transform the industry by..." These visions sound impressive but provide zero direction because they're not grounded in your unique perspective.

Worse, vision-first creates the alphabet soup problem. Teams spend months debating mission statements, core values, and strategic pillars trying to clarify a vision that was never clear to begin with. You're essentially trying to build a house before laying the foundation.

But vision is still necessary:

Strategy without vision isn’t inspiring. Your team needs to see the picture of what becomes possible when you execute your unique approach.

Here's why: Team members want meaning. They want to be part of something bigger. As Alex Hormozi puts it: "You unlock discretionary effort with a clear vision... The difference between a job and a calling isn't the work - it's the worker's perspective."

This is how you build a Winning Zone culture (remember Issue 007?). Vision gives people something to build toward, not just something to think about.

The key is sequence: Strategy first. Vision second.

SPONSOR

Why Strategy-Vision Stories Matter: The AIM Test

A great strategy-vision story does three things for your team:

Align- Unite everyone around one future direction
Inspire- Give people a reason to believe and belong
Move- Drive clear action and confident decisions

Traditional strategy frameworks fail because they're documents, not stories. Documents collect dust. Stories spread.

I Built This for You

Just for my readers, I created the Strategy-Vision Story Workbook—a free, editable guide that walks you through building your own three-sentence story (download below).

What you get:

• 6 questions that replace months of strategy confusion.

• 30 minutes to a story your team will actually remember.

• Templates you can customize and use immediately.

How to get it: Download the free workbook here or below.

Your challenge: Complete the workbook and reply with your story. I read every response and will give you feedback.

The Framework That Actually Works

After all my experience with complex strategy frameworks—and inspired by Alex M H Smith's thinking on strategy narratives—I've distilled it down to three sentences that tell one complete story.

What's Broken → How We Uniquely Fix It → What This Creates

Here's how this works:

Tesla's Strategy-Vision Story (using the framework):

"The auto industry forces you to choose between performance and saving the planet. We're the only company making electric vehicles that outperform gas cars by giving customers the power to drive the fastest, most beautiful cars while protecting the Earth. This creates the ability to drive what you love while building the world you want to leave behind."

Three sentences. One story. Everyone gets it.

Why I'm Sharing This

I learned that simple beats complex every time. Your strategy-vision story should clarify decisions, not create more confusion.

This workbook is what I wish I had given clients years ago.

'Til next time,
---Ali

P.S. Hit reply after you complete the workbook—I'd love to see what you create.

About Me: I’m Ali, a former tech exec who now advises growth-stage B2B companies on strategy & GTM execution.

Learn more about my story on LinkedIn.