I was sitting in a meeting last Tuesday, watching a CEO pitch what he called his “silver bullet” strategy. The slides were gorgeous. The data was cherry-picked to perfection. The room was nodding along. And then he dropped the line that made my coffee go cold: “This can work very well if the objective is: to make everyone feel good about doing nothing.”
He laughed. No one else did. Because we all knew the truth — most business objectives are vague, aspirational, or just plain wrong for the strategy being pitched. We’ve all been there, right? You’ve got a plan that could work, but only if the objective is aligned. And that’s the part most people skip.
Let’s be honest: the phrase “this can work very well if the objective is” is the most underrated strategic filter in business. It separates the “let’s just try something” crowd from the people who actually know what they’re optimizing for.
The Hidden Power of a Half-Finished Sentence
Here’s what most people miss: you can’t evaluate a strategy until you finish that sentence. It’s like judging a hammer before you know if you’re building a birdhouse or a bomb shelter. Same tool, completely different outcomes.
I’ve found that when I ask clients to complete that phrase — “This can work very well if the objective is…” — they freeze up. Suddenly, the shiny strategy they were about to drop $50K on looks like a bad fit. Or, conversely, a strategy they dismissed as “too basic” becomes the perfect play.
The magic isn’t in the tactic. It’s in the alignment.
Take a common example: spending big on brand awareness campaigns. This can work very well if the objective is: building long-term equity, entering a new market, or making your investors feel warm and fuzzy. But if your objective is driving immediate sales for a product nobody knows exists? You’re burning cash for likes. I’ve seen startups do this and wonder why their runway evaporated faster than a puddle in July.
The real skill here isn’t knowing what works. It’s knowing when it works. And that “when” is defined entirely by the objective.
The 3 Objectives That Fool Almost Everyone
I’ve categorized hundreds of business goals over the years, and three specific objectives trip up even experienced leaders. Let’s break them down.
1. “We need to grow fast” (The Growth Trap)
This is the most dangerous objective because it sounds like a strategy but is actually a wish. When someone says “we need to grow fast,” they’re usually thinking about revenue or user count. But here’s the kicker: this can work very well if the objective is: attracting venture capital or dominating a market before competitors.
But if your objective is sustainable profitability, team culture, or product-market fit? Fast growth will destroy you. I watched a friend’s SaaS company triple their customer base in six months. They celebrated for about a week. Then support tickets exploded, the product broke under load, and churn hit 40%. The growth objective was met. The business objective was not.
Pro tip: Before you chase growth, ask yourself: “What’s the objective behind the growth?” If it’s just “more,” you’re setting a trap.
2. “We want to be the best” (The Ego Trap)
This one hurts to write because I’ve fallen for it myself. “Best” sounds noble. But this can work very well if the objective is: building a premium brand, charging higher prices, or attracting top talent.
However, if your objective is volume, accessibility, or speed to market, being the best is a liability. You’ll over-engineer features nobody uses. You’ll spend months perfecting a product that could have shipped in weeks. I once consulted for a boutique agency that prided itself on “best-in-class” service. Their clients loved them. But they were bleeding money because “best” meant saying yes to every custom request. The objective they should have been chasing was profitable scale.
Here’s the truth: Best is expensive. Best is slow. Best is beautiful — until you run out of cash.
3. “We need to cut costs” (The Survival Trap)
Cost-cutting is the go-to move when things get tight. And this can work very well if the objective is: surviving a downturn, improving margins, or freeing up capital for a strategic bet.
But if your objective is innovation, employee morale, or customer loyalty, slashing budgets is like curing a headache with a hammer. I’ve seen companies cut their training budget to save $10K, then lose $200K in productivity because nobody knew how to use the new software. The objective was “save money.” The real cost was hidden.
What most people miss: Cost-cutting is a tactic, not an objective. The objective should be something like “increase operational efficiency” or “reallocate resources to high-growth areas.” Cut costs for a reason, not as a reason.
How to Actually Use “This Can Work Very Well If the Objective Is”
Enough theory. Let’s get practical. Here’s a framework I’ve developed after years of trial and error. It’s simple, but it works.
Step 1: Write down the strategy or tactic you’re considering.
Example: “We’re going to run a referral program with a $100 reward for each new customer.”
Step 2: Complete the sentence “This can work very well if the objective is…”
Possible completions:
- Acquiring high-intent customers quickly.
- Building word-of-mouth in a niche community.
- Reducing customer acquisition costs over time.
This is where the magic happens. Most teams realize their real objective is something else — like brand awareness or product education — and the referral program is a mismatch.
Step 4: If it’s a mismatch, don’t force it. Change the tactic or change the objective.
You’d be shocked how many people try to force a square peg into a round hole because they fell in love with the peg. Fall in love with the objective, not the strategy.
The One Question That Changes Everything
Here’s the question I ask in every strategy session now: “If this works perfectly, what will we have achieved?”
Because “this can work very well” isn’t the same as “this is what we need.” You can execute flawlessly on the wrong objective and still fail. It’s like being the fastest runner in a race that ends at the wrong finish line.
I remember a case where a marketing team ran a viral campaign — millions of views, tons of engagement, accolades from the C-suite. But when the dust settled, sales hadn’t budged. Why? Because the objective was “drive awareness,” but the business needed “drive conversions.” The campaign worked very well for the wrong objective.
Don’t let that be you.
The Final Filter: What’s the Real Cost of Misalignment?
When I hear someone say “this can work very well,” my next question is always: “At what cost?”
Not just money. Time. Focus. Energy. Brand equity. Team morale. When you pursue a strategy that’s misaligned with your true objective, you’re not just wasting resources — you’re actively pulling your organization in the wrong direction.
A few years ago, I watched a company pivot hard into a new market because “the data looked good.” The strategy worked well for generating short-term buzz. But the objective should have been “deepen loyalty with existing customers.” They gained a hundred new customers and lost five hundred repeat buyers. The net was negative, but everyone was high-fiving over the new sign-ups.
That’s the danger. When you don’t finish the sentence, you celebrate the wrong win.
Your Move
So here’s my challenge to you: The next time someone pitches a strategy — whether it’s yours, your boss’s, or a consultant’s — stop them at the sentence “This can work very well if…” and make them finish it.
Then ask: “Is that our objective?”
If the answer is yes, great. Go all in. If the answer is no, don’t kill the idea — just re-align it. Maybe the same strategy works for a different objective. Or maybe you need a completely different approach.
The most successful businesses I’ve seen aren’t the ones with the best strategies. They’re the ones that know exactly what they’re optimizing for.
Because when you know your objective, “this can work very well” isn’t a gamble. It’s a certainty.
Now go find your real objective. The strategy will follow.
