*Note: This essay was originally published on the Modern War Institute’s Commentary & Analysis site The world’s in crisis, and it’s time for strategists to earn their paychecks. It’s long been well-known that shifts and shocks produce opportunities that never would have existed otherwise. In car racing, this notion is reflected in the adage that…
*On Monday night, February 17, 2020, I spoke at a gathering of business, public, and non-profit leaders in Wellington, New Zealand. It was called the “Strategy Forge,” and I was honored to be the first to speak in the series. The host – a design firm called We Create Futures – maintains a website dedicated…
*Note: This essay/book chapter excerpt was published in The Daily Beast on April 13, 2019. It can be found online here. “Jon Snow” and “strategic genius” are certainly terms that don’t seem to go together. While Jon is one of the most beloved of characters in Game of Thrones, Ned Stark’s bastard son is often viewed like…
*Note: This essay was originally published on the Modern War Institute’s Commentary & Analysis site. A few years ago, I showed a senior officer a draft strategy. He looked at it, and then looked at me with a Christmas orphan’s unsatisfied disappointment: “We need to more clearly explain our ends, ways, means analysis,” he said,…
As silly and simple as it sounds, it’s hard to explain what a strategist is and does. I run into this definitional problem when I describe my job title: “Army Strategist.” Eyes glaze over as if they’ve heard the word “strategy” and “strategic” so much that it’s lost all meaning. And that overuse is clear in a world…
Image of Rodin’s Thinker courtesy of Wikipedia. Strategic thought. Insight? Context? Perspective? Pick up any copy of the Harvard Business Review and you’ll get a definition (or six thousand) for strategic thought (that’ll be $9.95 + tax, thank you very much). But our audience is more interested in the strategy of Ancient Greek origin – where the mergers & acquisitions…