Unfortunately, a lot of effort was expended but little strategy was made. The acid test of strategy is whether it informs and constrains decision making by compelling leaders to align their functional goals and day-to-day decision making to the goals of the enterprise. The only way to accomplish this is through communication and collaboration. The process of aligning people's hearts and minds is a difficult one that requires ongoing group discussion, and wrangling. No one can "do" strategy for someone else - it's a leader's job and one that is done collectively, not individually.

Let's help our staffer out and rewind our scenario to the point where it was clear that the strategy process was going to fail. What the staffer needs to do is to open a discussion with the CIO and IT leaders about how to complete this iteration of the strategy. Of course, we are talking about reducing scope by identifying the critical one or two issues that need to be addressed (for example, how to provide a 360-degree perspective of the customer across the enterprise).

While we are helping out, let's also advise the CIO that she abdicated her strategy-making responsibilities by delegating them to the staffer. The accountability for strategy making is not a staff role but a leadership one. Leaders need to pave the way with their business counterparts and leadership team and, in turn, hold them accountable for making strategy with their staff and partners.

Let's also encourage our staffer and make sure he understands that he has an important role in strategy making. Staff resources should be used for defining and managing the process, coaching others through it, and integrating and overseeing the results to ensure focus and quality.

Those who are strategically gifted have a tendency to emphasize the quality of the idea over the quality of the commitment. Never approach strategy making as a purely analytical exercise or trade off gaining emotional commitment in the quest to "get it right" or "get it done".

Strategy is never done. In the process of shaping and informing future decision making, it also must change to account for the new learning that occurs as those decisions are translated in to action.