they did not see strategy as a fixed description of “where we want to be” in the future. Of course, they had obvious ambitions of winning, and profit, and success, but they saw strategy as dealing with on-the-ground challenges and with important new opportunities that arose.

Many people assume that a strategy is a big-picture overall direction, divorced from any specific action.

Effective strategy emerges out of an exploration of challenges, ambitions, resources, and competition. By confronting the situation actually being faced, a talented leader creates a strategy to further some elements out of the whole bundle of ambitions.