A business strategy can simply be described as long-term business planning. It is the means by which a company reaches a long-term goal. However, in today’s times, it seems that entire markets are changing and the industry doesn’t even see it coming. Why? Strategy is a dying art. Here are a few reasons why:

Market disruptions. Throughout the entire business world, things are changing. Who could have foreseen Uber wiping out the taxi industry as we know it? Before the iPhone came out, who would have believed that nearly every business person would be sending emails, updating presentations, or tracking their mileage right from their car? Or look at Blockbuster: what used to be the leader in its industry is just starting to catch on to some of Netflix and Redbox’s ideas. The market is changing, and sooner or later every industry will be affected. You can take advantage of this change by looking ahead, but still there are no guarantees. Big changes start out as small ones. What is your business doing to be proactive for the future?

Innovation. Today, innovation is the name of the game. But innovation is not just adjusting market share, its making and breaking entire markets. There is no way to predict what innovations will be coming your industry’s way in the future, but you need to stay in tune with what is happening in order to accommodate innovations before your peers. However, it is hard to develop strategy when you have know idea what new innovations will be around in the future.

Abundance of Information. Effective strategy used to be built from one group having information that its competitors did not. Today, everyone has access to all information. Information is no longer scarce, and therefore everyone is coming up with the same goals. Instead of competitive advantages, companies are using this information to keep their heads above water.