Category Archives: cool strategies

Strategy Types: Critical Operations

LET’S take a quick look at some compelling strategy situations … 1.      SURVIVAL By a near miracle, or perhaps an actual miracle, you’ve just survived a night time airplane crash somewhere in the Amazon.  The Amazon is a big place and you don’t know where you are.  It’s also a formidable place, night or day.  You probably wouldn’t last more than several days in this environment before perishing, so you have to quickly make your way to safety. You sense that your chances of finding a village are poor and that perhaps you should try to arrange, instead, for someone else to … Continue reading

Posted in cool strategies, critical operations strategies, general strategy model, strategy elements, strategy recognition, strategy types | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Strategy in the News: Lasso and Lascaux

LASSO Well-regarded author Patricia O’Brien had produced 5 novels.  But her last one hadn’t sold well, and her Simon & Shuster editor declined to publish her new one, “The Dressmaker”.  A dozen more publishers also rejected the efforts of her well-known literary agent, Esther Newberg, to secure a contract for the book. What was going on?  Turns out O’Brien’s book was being rejected because her numbers had been lowered in Nielsen BookScan, a book sales tracking service, as a result of the performance of her most recent book.  And the publishing house editors were making their publishing decisions based on … Continue reading

Posted in cool strategies, efficient strategies, Gray Area, strategy in the news | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Escaping E. Berlin; A Simple Way to Devise Complex Strategies (1)

COLD WAR CHILLS The Wall came down in 1989.  Over 20 years ago.  It’s easy to forget what it was like for the people living on both sides of it at the time. NATO had a very important role during the time of The Wall, and Germany and America were especially close partners.  Did you know that Germany had Air Force facilities in the U.S. (and still does)?  During the later part of the Cold War, I had business with the German Air Force, and flew out of a tightly guarded German facility at Dulles Int’l. Airport.  High cyclone fences … Continue reading

Posted in cool strategies, general strategy model, strategy design | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Strategy Facts of Life

How to Win a Race  It’s 1930.  It’s in the dark of night, near the end of the famous Mille Miglia (Thousand Mile) day/night endurance road race that started and ended in Brescia, Italy.  Renowned Alfa Romeo driver Achille Varzi is comfortable in his lead.  His nearest competitor has disappeared from his rear view mirror, his engine is running well, and his car is handling fine.  Now all he has to do is ease back on the throttle a little to protect the engine, and finish the race in the lead.  As he backs off his throttle about 3 Km from the … Continue reading

Posted in cool strategies, strategy overview | Tagged , , , , , , | 6 Comments

What Strategies Are

On the 3rd of May each year, the women of Monsanto, Portugal, walk up a stone path from the town to the top of the mountain.  They enter the fortress there and then cast clay jars full of flowers down from its granite walls in commemoration of the villagers’ resistance to the many sieges in the town’s long history.  During a stay in the town, I was told a story about the clay jars and what they represent. They represent cows.  The story goes like this.  Long ago, perhaps in the 1100’s, Monsanto was under siege.  The people of the … Continue reading

Posted in cool strategies, faux strategies, strategy definition, strategy elements | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Anatomy of a Strategy

Gotta’ have Anatomy Look at the guys in the Rembrandt painting.  They’re old doctors getting an anatomy lesson from the one wearing a hat.  Troubling.  How can you have been a doctor unless you understood the parts of the body and how they work together?  But here these puzzled-looking doctors are, finally getting an anatomy lesson. Reminds me of where we are with strategy today.  We need a small dose of strategy anatomy. It was quite a lag in time before the Western medical profession adopted what should be considered the most minimal understanding necessary to be a practicing doctor.  But in many … Continue reading

Posted in cool strategies, efficient strategies, strategy definition, strategy elements | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments