Why long-term strategy isn’t dead – But needs a serious rethink

The real problem isn’t that companies make long-term plans. It’s that too many of those plans are rigid, overly optimistic, or based on outdated assumptions.

What businesses need today is strategic agility, not the abandonment of strategy, but the ability to shift direction without losing focus, and stay aligned even when conditions change.

Strategic agility is often misunderstood, so let’s start by clarifying what it is—and what it’s not.

It is not the same as Agile (with capital A) delivery methods like sprints, scrums, or frameworks such as SAFe. Those are execution tools designed to help teams work faster and adapt during project delivery. They’re important, but they serve a different purpose.

Strategic agility, by contrast, is a leadership capability. It’s about how an organization sets its direction in the face of uncertainty, how decisions are made when information is incomplete, and how quickly and confidently teams can shift course when the situation demands it. Strategic agility allows a company to remain focused on its goals, even when the path to those goals becomes unclear.

To put it simply:
Agile delivery helps you do things right.
Strategic agility helps you decide what the right things are—and when to act on them—based on the changing reality around you.

It’s not about reacting impulsively to every shift in the market. It’s about creating the ability to adapt deliberately and decisively, without losing your sense of purpose.

Let’s look at a concrete example of what strategic agility looks like in practice.

In March 2025, the Trump administration announced a potential 200% tariff on European alcoholic beverages. For Belgian brewers like Brouwerij Huyghe, best known for Delirium, that news was more than a headline. With nearly 20% of their revenue tied to the U.S. market, the proposed measure posed a direct and immediate threat to their business.

Instead of waiting for certainty or hoping the situation would resolve itself, CEO Alain De Laet acted decisively. He accelerated the brewery’s export planning and arranged for six months’ worth of product to be shipped to the U.S. before the tariffs could take effect. In just one week, 32 containers were packed and dispatched, far above the brewery’s usual export volume.

This is a strong example of strategic agility at work.

Rather than sticking to a fixed plan or waiting for more clarity, De Laet recognized the seriousness of the situation, quickly assessed the risks and opportunities, and made a bold move grounded in a clear strategic goal: protect market access in the face of rising trade barriers. His team aligned around that goal and mobilized at speed, without compromising operations.

In the end, the feared tariff was reduced to 20% and delayed by 90 days. But the brewery had already safeguarded its position by proactively shipping inventory. That readiness wasn’t luck, it was the result of a leadership mindset geared toward anticipating change and responding with focus and urgency.

Strategic agility doesn’t mean reacting to every disruption with panic or improvisation. It means building the capability to shift deliberately when conditions change, to move early rather than late, and to keep the organization aligned around a clear strategic response, even when the future is uncertain.

The global business environment will remain unpredictable. The U.S. may continue focusing inward, global alliances will keep evolving, and supply chains will likely undergo further shifts. Demand patterns will change, investment priorities will shift, and regulatory risks will increase. For companies that depend directly, or indirectly, on international trade, this creates significant exposure.

But that doesn’t mean you should give up on long-term planning. It means you need to abandon the idea that a single plan is enough.

In today’s world, relying on one strategy is like sailing with only one route in mind, regardless of the weather. Instead, you need a portfolio of strategic options: a mix of initiatives, investments, and partnerships that can flex, shift, or scale depending on how external conditions evolve.

Strategic agility is what allows leaders to navigate these parallel paths, not by having all the answers, but by preparing for a range of possible futures and staying ready to act when the signals shift.

What you can’t afford to do is stand still. Inaction is no longer neutral, it’s a strategic liability.

So how do you move from theory to practice? Here are four concrete ways to embed strategic agility into your organization:

1. Use scenario planning (seriously)

Most companies say they do this, but rarely go beyond superficial best-case/worst-case thinking. Real scenario planning means identifying plausible alternative futures and pressure-testing your strategy against them.
Ask: What if demand drops by 30%? What if a major supplier fails? What if legislation changes overnight?

2. Invest in no-regret capabilities

These are decisions that strengthen your position no matter what. Examples include improving digital skills, reducing energy dependency, building redundancy into your supply chain, or deepening customer insights. These moves increase your ability to pivot without being forced into reactive decisions.

3. Break the annual planning cycle

Strategic plans should be living documents, not static PDFs. Shift from once-a-year planning to rolling strategic reviews. Create space for “strategic sprints”: time-boxed initiatives focused on learning and decision-making, not just delivery.

4. Create internal alignment on uncertainty

When was the last time your leadership team discussed what different future scenarios might look like, and what your response should be? Strategic agility depends on shared mental models. If key leaders don’t agree on what the risks are, they won’t move together when action is needed.

These habits won’t make uncertainty disappear. But they will help you build an organization that’s confident, focused, and ready to adapt, without losing its way.

Strategic agility isn’t about predicting the future with perfect accuracy. It’s about preparing for many possible futures and having the confidence and capability to adapt when the time comes.

In today’s world, that’s not just smart leadership.
It’s the difference between shaping the future and being left behind by it.