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Johnson, Scholes and Whittington Strategy Lenses Explained

Updated 11 October 2026 · Fact-checked

The strategy lenses are four ways of viewing how strategy forms in an organisation: design, experience, variety and discourse. Each lens gives a different explanation and different advice. To answer an exam question, identify the lens the scenario shows, apply it with evidence, and judge what it means for managers.

Understand Johnson, Scholes and Whittington Strategy Lenses

Strategy is often taught as a logical process: analyse, choose, implement. Johnson, Scholes and Whittington argue that this is only one view. Real organisations are messy, so they suggest looking at strategy through four lenses. Each lens is a different way of seeing the same situation.

The design lens sees strategy as a deliberate, analytical, top-down process. Senior managers analyse the environment and resources, evaluate options and plan implementation. Objectives are clear and the plan is then cascaded down. It fits stable conditions and large, structured organisations. Its weakness is that it assumes managers can analyse everything and that staff will simply follow the plan.

The experience lens sees strategy as shaped by managers' past experience, habits and the organisation's culture. Strategy tends to change in small steps from what has worked before. This gives consistency, but it can make the organisation resistant to change and blind to new threats. Ideas such as the cultural web and the paradigm link here.

The variety lens sees strategy as emerging from diversity and variation inside the organisation. New ideas and innovation come from many people, often by chance or from the edges of the business. Diversity creates variation in ideas, people interact and share them, and the market then selects what works. This supports innovation and adaptability. It can lead to a lack of direction and a loss of control. In later editions of Exploring Strategy this lens is relabelled the "ideas" lens. It is the same lens under a new name, not a fifth lens.

The discourse lens sees strategy as shaped by language: the words, concepts and stories managers use. Language builds meaning, legitimacy and power. In the exam, treat each lens as a tool. You use it to explain what is happening in the case and to advise.

You do not choose one lens as the "right" one. Strong answers show that each lens explains some of the situation and has limits. Often the best advice combines lenses, for example design for control and variety for innovation.

Key rules to remember

Design lens: Analyse → choose → plan → implement (top-down); Strategy is deliberate, rational and led by senior management. Best in stable settings. Weak where change is fast or staff resist.
Experience lens: Strategy = past experience + culture + habits; Change is incremental and path-dependent. Gives continuity but risks inertia.
Variety lens: Diversity → variation of ideas → selection → new strategy; Strategy emerges from many sources, and innovation comes from the diversity, variation and selection of ideas. Helps innovation but may reduce control and direction.
Discourse lens: Strategy shaped by language, narrative and power; Look for the words managers use, who controls the story and how it gains legitimacy.

How to solve Johnson, Scholes and Whittington Strategy Lenses questions

Use this method for any question that asks you to view or explain strategy using one or more lenses.

1Read the requirement. Note whether it names a lens, asks you to choose one, or asks for a comparison.
2Define the lens in one or two sentences, so the marker sees you know the theory.
3Scan the scenario for evidence: who sets strategy, what role history and culture play, where new ideas come from, and what language managers use.
4Apply the lens to the facts. Quote or paraphrase the case, and say what the lens explains.
5Evaluate. State the strengths and limits of the lens for this organisation.
6Advise. Say what managers should do, for example combine lenses or change how strategy is made.
7Link to professional skills. Show analysis and commercial judgement, and keep the answer in the format asked, such as a report or briefing note.

Quickest way: Lens, evidence, so-what

When to use it: When time is short and you must write a focused answer for a 5 to 10 mark requirement.

Write the lens name and a one-line definition.
Pick two or three pieces of case evidence and tie each to the lens.
Add one strength and one limitation for this business.
Finish with one clear recommendation.
If several lenses are asked for, give each a short block of the same shape.

Common mistakes in Johnson, Scholes and Whittington Strategy Lenses

Describing the lenses without applying them to the scenario.
Students revise definitions and write what they remember.
Fix: For every point, name a fact from the case. Use the pattern: lens, evidence, meaning.
Treating the design lens as the only correct view of strategy.
Rational planning looks neat and matches other models.
Fix: Explain that design is one view. Say where it works and where experience, variety or discourse explain more.
Mixing up the experience and variety lenses.
Both involve strategies that develop without a formal plan.
Fix: Experience is about past habits and culture driving small changes. Variety is about diversity creating new ideas that are then selected.
Ignoring discourse because it seems abstract.
There is rarely an obvious figure or model to quote.
Fix: Look for language in the case, such as slogans, labels, stories and how directors talk about the strategy. Say who this helps and who it excludes.
Giving no recommendation.
Students think explaining the lens is enough.
Fix: End with advice on how managers should shape strategy, such as combining design for control with variety for innovation.
Writing a generic essay with no format or professional skills.
Students focus on technical content only.
Fix: Use the requested format, structure with short headed points, and show scepticism and commercial judgement.

Worked examples

Example 1

A family-owned manufacturer has made metal fittings for 60 years. The board says, "We have always grown by small improvements to our existing range." Managers dismiss new materials as "not how we do things". Explain, using the experience lens, why the company's strategy has developed this way and what the risks are. (8 marks)

Show the solution

Define: the experience lens sees strategy as shaped by managers' past experience, habits and culture, so change is small and builds on what has worked.
Apply: the board's phrase about small improvements shows strategy extending the existing range. This is incremental, path-dependent change.
Apply: dismissing new materials as "not how we do things" shows a shared set of beliefs, a paradigm, that filters what managers notice and accept.
Strength: this gives consistency, deep expertise and efficient decisions, which has supported 60 years of growth.
Risk: the company may miss threats such as substitute materials or new competitors, and may resist change when it is needed.
Recommend: bring in outsiders, review the assumptions behind the paradigm, and set up a way to test new ideas, which borrows from the variety lens.

Answer: The experience lens explains the strategy as incremental change driven by habit and culture. It gives continuity but creates inertia and blindness to new materials. The board should challenge its assumptions and create room for new ideas.

Example 2

A software group has a head office strategy team that sets a three-year plan with targets for all divisions. However, a small team in one division built a new app on its own initiative, and it has become the group's fastest-growing product. Discuss what the design lens and the variety lens each tell you about this situation. (10 marks)

Show the solution

Define design: strategy is deliberate, analytical and top-down, with objectives and plans set by senior managers and cascaded.
Apply design: the head office three-year plan and divisional targets match this lens. It gives clear direction and control.
Limit of design: the plan did not produce the successful app. It shows the plan cannot foresee everything and may restrict initiative.
Define variety: strategy emerges from diversity and variation in the organisation. Ideas arise from many places, and the market selects those that work.
Apply variety: the small team's unplanned app is a variation, and its commercial success is the selection.
Limit of variety: too much freedom may reduce direction, waste resources on weak ideas, and make control harder.
Conclude: the group should keep design for coordination and risk control, and allow variety for innovation, for example with space and funding for small experiments.

Answer: Design explains the formal plan and gives control but missed the app. Variety explains the app as an emergent idea that the market selected. The group should combine both, using planning for direction and variety for innovation.

Exam tips

Expect the lens to be named or implied in the requirement. If it is named, apply only that lens before you evaluate. If not, choose the one that fits the evidence best.
Use case facts in every paragraph. Marks go for application, not for definitions alone.
Show balance. Mention a strength and a limitation, and consider how lenses could be combined.
Link strategy lenses to other case themes such as culture, change, and leadership, since SBL tasks are integrated.
Use professional skills marks: structure, concise communication and a clear, justified recommendation.

Practice questions from Concepts of strategy

Johnson, Scholes and Whittington Strategy Lenses: frequently asked questions

What are the strategy lenses in SBL?

They are four ways of viewing how strategy is formed: design, experience, variety and discourse. They come from Johnson, Scholes and Whittington's work on exploring strategy. Each lens gives a different explanation of strategy and suggests different actions.

Do I need to learn all four lenses?

Yes. The question may name any one, or ask you to compare two. Learn a short definition, typical evidence, strengths and limits for each.

Which lens is best?

None is best in every case. Design suits stable, structured settings, while variety helps innovation. Good answers explain where each lens helps and often recommend a combination.

How is the discourse lens different from the others?

It focuses on language rather than process. It asks how words, labels and stories shape what strategy means and who has influence. Look for the way managers talk about strategy in the case.