Before we begin, let’s review the terms: Strategy, Tactics, Process, Methods, Methodology, and Techniques to ensure we’re on the same page. Cooking is an excellent analogy to explain the differences:
Strategy: In cooking, your strategy is the overall approach you take to create a meal. For example, your strategy could be to cook a healthy, vegetarian dinner. This guides your decisions regarding the types of dishes you’ll make, the ingredients you’ll use, and the cooking techniques you’ll employ. It’s your “big picture” plan.
Tactics: Are about choosing the right combination of methods and techniques to create a specific dish. In cooking, tactics might involve deciding to braise a tough cut of meat to make it tender (technique), and then adding herbs and spices to enhance the flavor (method). These tactical decisions help you produce a well-executed and flavorful meal. Tactics also include timing, sequencing, and the order in which you perform methods and techniques to achieve the desired outcome in a recipe.
Strategy is your overall plan, while tactics are the specific steps and decisions you take to put that plan into action.
Process: Is the structured framework and sequential series of steps involved in preparing a meal. Like in business or any other endeavor, the process of cooking includes fundamental stages such as planning (choosing the recipe), preparation (gathering ingredients and tools), execution (cooking), and presentation (serving the meal). It’s the roadmap that guides you from start to finish when creating a dish.
Methodology: The collection of rules, principles, and guidelines you follow when applying techniques and methods during cooking. It encompasses how you do things, such as the precise order of adding ingredients, cooking times, seasoning choices, and more. An example of methodology is following a specific cultural tradition in cooking, like Italian or Indian cuisine.
Method: A specific step or procedure within a recipe or culinary process. It’s a fundamental way of performing a particular task during cooking. For example, sautéing onions, grilling a steak, or boiling pasta are all methods. These methods are like individual building blocks used in various recipes. Each method focuses on a specific aspect of cooking, such as heating, cooking, or preparing ingredients.
Method is a specific step you use in a single recipe, while Methodology encompasses your broader cooking philosophy and guiding principles that influence your cooking decisions across various recipes and culinary experiences.
Technique: A broader and more general concept. It encompasses a set of skills, practices, and methods you use to perform a wide range of culinary tasks. Techniques are fundamental to cooking and often require precision and expertise. For instance, knife skills, which include chopping, dicing, and julienning, are techniques used in preparing various ingredients for different dishes. Roasting, baking, and braising are techniques that involve specific cooking methods but can be applied to diverse recipes. Techniques are like the building blocks of culinary proficiency.
Here’s a comparison for added clarity:
| Cooking | Sales | |
|---|---|---|
| Strategy | Vegetarian Dinner | Targeting enterprise clients |
| Tactics | Vegetarian lasagna, Caesar salad, celery soup | Cold email outreach, cold calling, LinkedIn outreach, or trade shows |
| Process | Instructions and steps for baking vegetarian lasagna (preheat oven, line baking tray, etc.) | Email conversion funnel (specific drip sequence and if-this-then-that actions) |
| Methodology | Italian style | Challenger sales approach |
| Method | A specific way of sauteing mushrooms | Tailoring insights, asserting commercial teaching, and taking control of the sales conversation |
| Technique | Knife skills, baking technique, salad tossing | Active listening, objection handling, and closing techniques |
Don’t stress it if you’re still a little confused; some people use these terms interchangeably, and it doesn’t matter too heavily in practice. I’m sharing my definitions to help you logically orient yourself as we delve into each layer of the concepts mentioned above.