---
title: "Your Strategy Is a Spending Pattern"
number: 117
date: 2026-03-05
url: https://trevin.co/writing/strategy-is-a-spending-pattern
standfirst: "If you cannot say what you stopped, you do not have a strategy."
topics: ["Decision governance"]
---
# Your Strategy Is a Spending Pattern

If you cannot say what you stopped, you do not have a strategy.

Most organisations call it a "digital strategy."

But if you look closely, it's really just a spending pattern.

Money drifts toward:

- The loudest sponsor
- The most visible problem
- The most fashionable initiative

And no one ever stops anything.

They just add.

Another platform.

Another program.

Another AI initiative.

Another transformation wave.

Then act surprised when execution collapses.

Here's the test:

Ask your executive team:

> "What are your top three strategic digital priorities?"

You'll get confident answers.

Then ask:

> "Which three things did you stop to make room for them?"

That's where the silence starts.

Because a real strategy is defined by subtraction.

It makes the organisation smaller in focus, not larger in ambition.

If your strategy can't tell you what to stop, it isn't a strategy.

It's a wish list.

What does your spending pattern really say about your strategy?