Benioff adopted a symbol showing the word software with a red slash through it and coupled it with the slogan “No software.”

I EXPLORE FOUR themes in the pages that follow. First, the best way to deal with strategic issues is by squarely facing the challenge. Too many people start with goals and other visions of a desired end state. Start with the challenge, and diagnose its structure and the forces at work. Once you do that, your sense of purpose and the actions you con

Insight does not automatically awaken at our call. It cannot be guaranteed, but it can be aided. If you have not grasped the thorns of the problem, you cannot expect insight into a solution. Insight is helped by practice at the feel of sliding and shifting points of view. Insight into strategy is much aided by understanding the power of focusing co

Second, understand the sources of power and leverage that are relevant to your situation.

The discipline of addressability does not pass over complex long-term challenges. It encourages breaking such challenges into smaller chunks, one of which can be tackled today. As a Chinese proverb reminds us, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”

I start my own search for insight in the yet-to-be-questioned assumptions about how things work, in the asymmetries among interests and resources, and in the habits and inertia of others.

But a goal set arbitrarily, without an analysis or understanding of a critical challenge or opportunity, is an unsupported goal. By contrast, a good goal is the result of effective strategy work that targets certain actions that will move the organization forward. To avoid confusion, it is best to call this an objective to distinguish it from an un

in the summer of 1998, I asked Jobs a question. I said, “Everything we know about the PC business says that Apple cannot really push beyond a small niche position. The network effects are just too strong to upset the Wintel standard. So, what are you trying to do in the longer term? What is the strategy?” In response, he just smiled and said, “I am

Climbers call such boulders “problems” and describe the toughest part as “the crux.” In the case of the Cul de Chien, you cannot get up with just strength or ambition. You have to solve the puzzle of the crux and have the courage to make delicate moves almost two stories above the ground.