The 33rd Edition - [SPECIAL] The Strategy Edition
Did you know that the price for a can of AriZona ice tea has remained unchanged (99c) for over 30 years?
Todayâs edition is on my favourite topic: strategy.
The reason why I love it so much, and why I think others should enjoy it, is that itâs very much about modelling the reality.
A friend of mine equated playing a game to modelling a reality.
You play, you get feedback, you adjust.
You have an idea for how it all works, but you donât know for sure.
At first, itâs frustrating.
But over time, you learn more about the reality, and the game gets interesting.
I love modelling the reality like a big equation: f(x) = a + b + c (well, itâs never that trivial, but you get the point). Nothing is more exciting than discovering the strategy, wiring it up to signals in the reality and then tweaking the levers.
Many things can be said on this topic, but Iâll let others speak for me.
Read: âThe Cruxâ by Richard Rumelt
Iâm reading the follow-up to Richard Rumeltâs excellent âGood Strategy/Bad Strategyâ (which is a must-read).
Itâs called âThe Crux: How Leaders Become Strategistsâ.
Here are some of my favourite quotes so far:
A strategy is a mixture of policy and action designed to surmount a high-stakes challenge. It is not a goal or wished-for end state. It is a form of problem solving, and you cannot solve a problem you do not understand or comprehend.
We also understand planning as a âprocess.â The only problem is that process doesnât produce strategyâit produces plans.
The dirty little secret of the strategy industry is that it doesnât have any theory of strategy creation.
The idea that a person or organization has one or two primary driving goals is simply not true. It is a fantasy invented by economists and certain management thinkers. The reality is that most people and organizations have âa bundle of ambitions.â Some things in this âbundleâ conflict with one anotherânot all can be achieved together.
I think of strategic challenges as arising in three basic forms: choice, engineering design, and gnarly. Most that I see are gnarly, perhaps because companies donât ask for help with easier ones.
You solve a gnarly challenge by beginning to dig into the nature of the challengeâin figuring out âwhat is going on here.â What is the paradox or central knot of the thing? What constraints might be relaxed?
Well, enough of these⌠Maybe one more:
Go buy the book and read it - even if you think youâre a strategy pro.
Watch: How To Read a Wardley Map
While Richard Rumelt doesnât talk about any specific strategy methods, one that has emerged in the last decade is the somewhat confusing, but always fascinating Wardley Mapping approach.
Iâve mentioned it several times in the past issues (#1, #5, #7, #29), and this time, itâs a 4-minute video on how to read a Wardley Map:
Remember
Unless you're lucky, strategy development is slow, that's why it's important to start it early.
Itamar Gilad, product management consultant (source)
Being strategic is being less myopicâless shortsightedâthan others.
Richard Rumelt, author (source)
Consider
Symptoms of Bad Strategy:
(source)
Strategy From The Game Go: If your opponent makes a move that doesn't warrant an immediate response, focus your next move elsewhere on the board. (source)
Strategy Kernel Canvas: Iâve been using this format to craft strategies in various situations. Itâs missing a few things that you can get elsewhere (like SWOT), but it packages up the key aspects nicely. It forces you to think and to expose this thinking. (Itâs much more a thinking tool than a communication tool.) Try it out and let me know what you think. (source)
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Have a great week ahead & see you next week.