I call my perspective challenge-based strategy . The central proposition is that a strategy is a set of policies and actions carefully designed to overcome a high-stakes challenge. In other words, strategy is problem-solving that defines a plan of action.

Can we at least stop pretending the world is as tidy as our deliverables make it look? A strategy that cleans too early often creates a distorted picture that feels clear in the room but collapses in contact with the real. Cartography accepts that things wobble, and it uses that wobble as data. False certainty and failed outcomes greatly slow us... See more

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