Strategy
strategy is a mixture of policy and action designed to surmount a crucial challenge
Richard Rumelt • The Crux: How Leaders Become Strategists
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.
... See moreRichard Rumelt • Good Strategy Bad Strategy: The Difference and Why It Matters
The first opportunity is when you are initially discussing the engagement. You’ll want to give the prospective client multiple options for the engagement, each one priced and scoped differently. You’ll probably have a good idea of what they should hire you for, but it’s still helpful to most (not all) prospects to hear the options. You’ll also be
... See moreDavid C. Baker, Emily Mills, • Secret Tradecraft of Elite Advisors: Covert Techniques for a Remarkable Practice
The point is not to “pick one preferred future,” and hope for it to come to pass (or, even, work to create it—though there are some situations where acting to create a better future is a useful function of scenarios). Nor is the point to find the most probable future and adapt to it or “bet the company” on it. Rather, the point is to make strategic
... See morePeter Schwartz • The Art of the Long View
strategy is primarily about deciding what is truly important and focusing resources and action on that objective. It is a hard discipline because focusing on one thing slights another.
Richard Rumelt • Good Strategy Bad Strategy: The Difference and Why It Matters
A good strategy recognizes the nature of the challenge and offers a way of surmounting it.
Richard Rumelt • Good Strategy/Bad Strategy: The difference and why it matters
In all cases, strategy is the process of confronting and solving critical challenges. I emphasize this because there is a widespread misconception that a business strategy is some sort of long-range sketch of a desired destination. I encourage you to think of strategy as a journey through, over, and around a sequence of challenges.
Richard P. Rumelt • The Crux: How Leaders Become Strategists
The first natural advantage of good strategy arises because other organizations often don’t have one. And because they don’t expect you to have one, either.
Richard Rumelt • Good Strategy/Bad Strategy: The difference and why it matters
A guiding policy creates advantage by anticipating the actions and reactions of others, by reducing the complexity and ambiguity in the situation, by exploiting the leverage inherent in concentrating effort on a pivotal or decisive aspect of the situation, and by creating policies and actions that are coherent, each building on the other rather
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