blue-sky objective is usually a simple restatement of the desired state of affairs or of the challenge. It skips over the annoying fact that no one has a clue as to how to get there.

1. Having a coherent strategy—one that coordinates policies and actions. A good strategy doesn’t just draw on existing strength; it creates strength through the coherence of its design. Most organizations of any size don’t do this. Rather, they pursue multiple objectives that are unconnected with one another or, worse, that conflict with one another.

Another closed circle occurs when schools design curricula based on student ratings, and students apply to schools based on past ratings.

unless you can buy companies for less than they are worth, or unless you are specially positioned to add more value to the target than anyone else can, no value is created by such expansion.

Good strategy is design, and design is about fitting various pieces together so they work as a coherent whole.

diagnosis does more than explain a situation—it also defines a domain of action.

More than the deft wielding of power, the listener experiences the actual discovery of power in a situation—

inside view, a label given by Nobel laureate Daniel Kahneman and coauthor Dan Lovallo to the tendency to ignore related pertinent data—to believe that “this case is different.”7

Properly organized and led, ordinary men could defeat skilled warriors who fought as individuals or as small bands. The classic example of design in battle strategy, one that is still studied today, is Hannibal’s victory over the Roman army at Cannae in 216 B.C.