🍣 Strategy is nothing without this small (but huge) thing

strategy is often set by one group of people, but needs to be recalled by another. Strategy is memory. The problem is memory is fickle (our brains rewrite our memories to situate the present in the past), memory is subjective (the Rashoman Effect), and memory is held by people.

When careers and job tenures were longer this worked. An organization’s ... See more

What do you wish Strategists would do more of?

• “Find opportunities for action, and not just diagnostics.”


• “Choices. Most planning presentations open up possibilities but do not close them. They are exploratory; they analyze issues but never make choices, and for me, strategy is about choosing.”

How do you judge whether a creative brief is good or no

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Andy Coravos: When people ask what you do, they really seem to be asking who you are, putting the attention on people’s credentials within institutions (the nouns) rather than on their actions and contributions (how they live, work, and cultivate knowledge in their fields). Expertise is equated with the former, when it should be more about the latt... See more

I think the skill is holding both of those… to borrow a phrase from my wife, she loves this phrase, “holding both of those things in your head at the same time.” One is absolute dedication and commitment to a vision of the future that you see, your recursive vision about the future. And two, an utter lack of bias or pre-determined thought on how yo... See more

As a strategist your mind is (hopefully) wired for curiosity, elastic in its ability to adapt and voracious in its appetite for learning and discovery. You will also be a natural at digging down to identify the real problem hiding behind the perceived one and you’ll be able to explore far and wide, when it comes to seeking out unexpected but brilli... See more