There is something alluring about the number seven. According to Miles Davis, there are seven steps to heaven, and, according to Harvard Business School Professor Robert Simons, there are seven important strategy questions for businesses to ask themselves. Professor Simons wrote my favourite book on business strategy, Seven Strategy Questions, and I’ve recently posted on it at the Effective Governance website:

Strategy is about asking the right questions

While recommending you read my post at the Effective Governance blog and seeking your views, I’d note that Pete Faulkner from Conus has already suggested to me that there should be an eighth question: “What value are you providing to your customer/s?” A fair comment, but it would unfortunately result in eight important strategy questions, and eight is nowhere near as nice a number as seven. Regardless, the important thing is that businesses should be asking themselves challenging questions, rather than relying on whatever is the latest fad in management consulting.