When we think strategy is depicting the end state, and undervalue the proximate objective definitions and execution that it takes to get there, the person who talks more about the end state can be seen as more strategic than the person who actually reaches it.

This is the first rule of strategy: strategy is contextual. A crucial insight, because often when leaders fail, it’s because they tried to apply a strategy that worked in one context, to a different one, without considering the difference.

This is true when you change companies, and I think the reason why there is such a high failure rate for... See more