Pressing pause is hard. But strategy matters more now than ever.

It’s hard to press pause.

There are always too many demands, too many fires to put out, and everything feels too intense to stop and look at priorities.

But that constant firefighting is one of the biggest reasons businesses don’t have the right strategies in place. It’s rarely a lack of effort or ambition; it’s a lack of time to step back and understand why sales and marketing aren’t delivering the results they should.

The cost of firefighting

Most leadership teams I meet already know this. They can feel the pressure of reacting instead of planning.

Yet a McKinsey study found that 45% of executives spend less than three hours a month thinking about strategy, even though those who dedicate more time to it are 2.5 times more likely to outperform their competitors.

That gap between awareness and action is what really hurts growth. You can work harder, hire more people, or invest in new tools but without strategy, it’s just actions, not building and keeping momentum.

For example

Earlier this year, I worked with a £19-million-turnover business that was, by all appearances, performing well. Their marketing team was busy, creative, and committed, but entirely reactive. Campaigns were driven by the next event, the next deadline, the next “urgent” opportunity.

When we stepped back to look at the bigger picture, there was no clear growth plan, no strategy, no alignment between sales and marketing, and no consistent way to measure what was working.

We built a proper strategy, one that defined audience priorities, clarified messaging, and put structure around execution. Within six months, lead quality improved by 40% and conversion rates nearly doubled.

That’s what happens when you make space for strategy. You stop firefighting and start getting results.

The Missing Skill

The common denominator in most businesses I see isn’t lack of ambition; it’s lack of specialism.
Few companies have people who specialise in strategy. It’s a skill like any other, one that has to be learned and practised.

And it’s the single most important thing to get right. Everything flows from it: the right targeting, the right messaging, execution that builds momentum, and a clear understanding of the sales and marketing funnel. It’s also what creates real alignment between sales and marketing, essential for true business growth.

Why I care

It’s why I love running brand strategy workshops and writing strategy documents for ambitious businesses. Because strategy isn’t theory, it’s the foundation of commercial transformation.

When you get it right, it changes everything. It gives teams a deep understanding, direction, and confidence. It turns busy marketing departments into growth engines and gives leadership teams the data and focus they need to make faster, better decisions.

It’s also why I founded Nutcracker: to help businesses put the right strategies in place to grow.

The Takeaway

Strategy isn’t a luxury for when things calm down. It’s the reason things do calm down.

The businesses that grow consistently are the ones that make space to think, even when it feels impossible.

If your team has been stuck in firefighting mode and needs to reset its direction, I would love to talk about how a half-day strategy workshop can help you find the focus - and the momentum - to grow.

Drop me an email on Jenny.knighting@nutcrackeragency.com or connect with me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenny-knighting-a948501/