Acronyms

An acronym is a linguistic invention in which the first letters of the words in a phrase form a newly coined or previously existing word to distill the essence of at-times complex concepts and programs into a memorable, inspiring word. A key idea in strategy is for leadership to capture and convey a concept in a brief, memorable manner. An acronym to be effective must sound like a word. This highlights the artistic side of strategy, where thinking in imagery, soundbites, and off-beat, seemingly off-the-cuff insights often can be very effective. Many examples of memorable acronyms come from the U.S. military:

MOPP: Mission Oriented Protective Posture, the acronym used to describe a military unit's alert level against gas attacks and the like. Marines call their protective gear “MOPP suits.”

USA PATRIOT ACT: Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism.

OK: “0 (zero)”killed.

Are you into strategy?

As a WW II veteran notes, “SNAFU” brought back memories, good, bad, and funny. During his time in the military, the word was so completely appropriate so very many times that they often speculated on how incredibly screwed up the enemy must be, since the Allies seemed to be winning. This is a common theme in the military; for example, recently in Iraq, American military are frequently quoted as saying that they were saved only because “the Iraqi could not shoot straight.”

Recent news should provide a plethora of acronyms that reflect the various stages of disarray that emerge when strategy implementation goes awry. See Murphy's Law.

Some acronyms help to communicate the organizational hierarchy such as POTUS, FLOTUS, SCOTUS, VPOTUS. These are President, First Lady, Supreme Court, or Vice President of the United States, respectively. Many strategic initiatives in [Page 3]companies are given acronyms such as GE's FMP (financial management program) or general leadership theory in the army's “Be, Know, Do” (BKD) model of leader development (LD). An acronym often gives followers energy and makes them feel part of something special. Another example is the U.S. military's HUA (heard, understood, acknowledged), now written as it's pronounced: Hoo-ah.