Why an Abstraction Ladder Matters
Picture the strategy of a company as a tall staircase: the higher rungs are carved in Titanium, the lower ones in springy rubber. At the top you engrave your values, principles and purpose; midway you set mission, vision and strategic objectives; near the ground you lay policies, metrics and media budgets.
The genius of the Abstraction Ladder is that it lets a firm pivot its tactics daily without ever sawing off the top step that gives meaning to all the rest. You may call that stable crown it’s the company fundamentals, company DNA, company “what-so-ever”.
The key issue is that at the top of the ladder, the most abstract definition “must” be credible, otherwise the company will become a mere bluff -said in French, which sounds chicer.
Company vs Business | Same House, Two Floors
A company is a permanent idea; a business is its evolving content -fitting its context. We used to argue that if purpose shifts, “the company must be re-imagined, redesigned and restarted”, and that’s the truth!
The difference between the company and the business lies in its “founding idea”, which is based on and is a synthesis of core values and a purpose that will sustain and drive future ambitions.
The business is defined by what is offered, to whom it is offered and the differential know-how it possesses -all of which could and would be easily copied.
The company, which contains the business, adds that founding idea which sets it apart, from its beginnings, not only for what it is for but also because it is different from the rest of its category.
One belongs to the category at business level; one differs from the category at company level.
Keep the heart of the company stable so that everyone keeps moving in the same direction. Mixing the two layers often leads to trouble.
- Unilever’s attempt to paste a “save-the-planet” storyline on Hellmann’s mayonnaise prompted an investor to claim the brand had lost the plot, proving that noble narratives cannot wallpaper a product that consumers see as sandwich lube.
- By contrast, Tony’s Chocolonely keeps its permanent “crazy about chocolate, serious about people” purpose front-of-house and lets the business innovate below the line, clear proof that the two floors can reinforce each other when the staircase is respected.
Anatomy of the Abstraction Ladder
Values, Principles & Purpose -Titanium
Companies thrive when what they do is intrinsically aligned with their ongoing raison d’être that will guide their future performance; the case of Patagonia demonstrates this by linking outdoor clothing to climate action. In short, these high-level definitions should guide all business actions, which is why they matter.
Mission, Vision & Strategic Objectives -Marble
Here strategy turns poetic intent into milestones -the light at the end of the tunnel. Companies and brands with clearly defined high level strategic objectives tend to outperform their competitors in terms of value, revenue, profits and impact. It is about combining vision and competitive position under the umbrella of a compelling and stable purpose.
Policies for Satisfaction & Measurement -Timber
Metrics convey medium-term intentionality of day-to-day behaviour; they are at the level of the highest-level policies and are responsible for giving sense of urgency to strategies.
It also seems important at this point to consider indicators based on whether the strategic objectives are authentic, inspiring, shared and actionable. They are measures that seek, beyond performance, to confirm the health of the assumptions that have been established and become a good filter that prevents vanity KPIs from creeping in.
For example, auditing the employee experience shows how cultural policies give strength to the metrics in the company, measuring both the validity of the strategic objective and the practical performance of the tactical and operational plans.
Resource & Media Policies -Rubber
Budgets, channel mixes and agile workflows belong here.
Basically, these policies explain how the company’s purpose and business strategy should be consistently brought to life on a day-to-day basis. And remember, at the end of the day, via an aligned brand strategy, this will be synthesised into the firm’s brands.
They help everything run smoothly, ensuring effective business processes, an aligned organisation, and resources used wisely.
Mnemonic rule: “Thousands of pages for managers, few sentences for the C-suite”. Keep each rung at the proper level and with the right content.
It is the guide to staying out of trouble when managing the business.
Permanence, Legacy & Why Titanium Doesn’t Crack
Stable principles give brands ballast when storms hit. During Covid-19, Virgin Atlantic asked staff to take eight weeks’ unpaid leave, rupturing its long-promoted people-first ethos and triggering headlines about hypocrisy.
Patagonia’s “Earth is our only shareholder” pledge, by contrast, fortified credibility and even enabled a lateral leap into sustainable food via Patagonia Provisions. The lesson?
Legacy is not nostalgia; it is a forward-facing lever that lets the brand stretch without snapping.
Allegro 234’s Ambidextrous Branding framework shows how blending creativity with rigour keeps that lever tuned to market realities.
Leveraging Legacy into Tomorrow
Nike’s purpose sparks inclusive innovation while LEGO turns play into lifelong learning. We recommend – and we are a bit of a nuisance to insist on this subject, but…- using “story-building, not storytelling”, anchoring new ventures in factual continuity, not marketing poetry.
Gap’s low-key sustainability upgrades -female-leadership programmes and supply-chain decarbonisation- illustrate quiet legacy leverage, whereas Richard Branson’s reversed employee narrative shows what happens when yesterday’s myth collides with today’s cash-flow reality.
Adaptation by Empathy
You might design employee journeys with staff, not for them, building a culture that can bend without losing its soul. You can also make purpose the acid test that forces leaders to listen to the heartbeat of the company in their market, before tweeting lofty promises.
We often say that “Purpose matters because of what you do”, to emphasise that alignment, coherence and consistency trump slogans each and every day.
Ideas for Building Your Own Abstraction Ladder
- Audit the Titanium. List values, principles and purpose, checking each against the authentic-inspiring-shared-actionable litmus test.
- Translate to Marble. Draft -or refresh- mission and vision in plain language. Also be explicit about what you won’t do.
- Frame Timber Metrics. Design KPIs that reward behaviour aligned with purpose.
- Rubberise Resources. Action plans and budgets can iterate weekly without rewriting the vision.
- Stress-test with Legacy. For every initiative ask, “Would our founders recognise this?” If yes, proceed; if no, explain why evolution beats betrayal.
Isn’t it time we sat down over a cup of coffee and explored what your company, your business and your brand could become? Maybe it is!
Image
- Jimmy Chan, Pexels
