ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses the transformation of theory into practice and the elevation of practice to the level of a profession is the fundamental issue. Although strategists and commentators on strategy in general lament the over-formalisation and bureaucracy in strategy, the topics of risk management, stakeholder management, strategy evaluation and renewal are of particular relevance to the professional strategy practitioner. With a primary focus on financial outcomes, they are in one sense the most important stakeholders, but they are often the least involved in the delivery of those outcomes. The chapter returns to the notion of a learning organisation as a highly complementary role within the office of strategy and the importance of learning as an attribute of the strategy professional. It also concludes with an assessment of the role of the main protagonists in strategy and the work they undertake as consummate strategy professionals: chief strategy officers.
