Follow Real Strategy
Tag Archives: how to
Bad Strategy: Unintended Consequences
Green River ON a hike in The Canyon Lands, some of our mountain friends encountered the legendary river runner Moki Mac. At the time he was managing operations at Utah’s Dead Horse Point State Park, and was concerned for the safety of the growing number of recreational boaters running the nearby Green River. Because of the extreme conditions, to ensure survival in case of a mishap, boaters would have to get out of the canyon within one day. But there was no known one-day route out of the canyon, so he wanted one found. Sizing up my friends (John, Grant, … Continue reading
Posted in bad strategies, strategy design, strategy review Tagged bad strategy, brainstorming, Canyon Lands, cobra effect, cobras, creative thinking, devise, football helmet, Green River, how to, monkies, objective, side effects, strategy review, thinking skills, unintended consequences, Utah 6 Comments
How to Defeat Control Strategies
THERE’S a cannon that’s already lobbed a couple of shells at you, creating geysers more nearby than you’d like. The gunner behind that cannon is your mortal adversary. He knows that if you can get in close enough, your torpedoes will blow his ship to Kingdom Come – and him with it. His advantage is long-range cannon power, and the stable platform of a battle cruiser to shoot from. Yours is that you’re driving the fastest, most maneuverable naval boat afloat. Your engines are red-lining and howling. You’re racing at his ship in your Patrol Torpedo (PT) Boat at maximum … Continue reading
Posted in control strategy, efficient strategies Tagged control loop, control strategies, exploit, feedback loop, how to, how to win, loop, mismatch, opportunity, PT Boat, strategies, strategy 3 Comments
Control Strategy
TEA FOR TWO Two young Chinese ladies, performing for passers-by, hold the handles of their teapots two arm-lengths away from teacups and unerringly fill them without spilling a drop. The crowd is amazed. How did they do this? How could they control the tea so well as it was being poured? Answer: by using a control strategy that is at the root of controlling nearly all processes. Look at the ladies’ eyes in the photo. They’re not looking at the spout from which the tea is being poured. Actually, they’re not even looking at the rim of the cup … Continue reading
Posted in control strategy, strategy design Tagged closed loop, control strategies, control strategy, devise, feedback loop, freeway, how to, loop, rolling mill, tea pouring 5 Comments
Negotiating Strategy; Selling on the Silk Road
PUSHING BAZAAR The largest market in Central Asia is the Pushing Bazaar in Ashkabad. Why ”pushing”? Because it’s packed with potential customers and onlookers, and you have to push your way through the crowd to get anywhere. And once you’re there bargaining for something, if the action is interesting, people will push their way into the situation, offering their own assessment of the item’s value, and arguing with each other about it (in the Turkmen language – you haven’t a clue what they’re saying). It’s a pastime for them. The place is huge, full of color, texture and sound, and is roughly … Continue reading
Posted in Gray Area, Negotiating strategy, situational strategies Tagged Ashkabad, game, Gray Area, how to, how to win, negotiating, negotiation, silk, Silk Road, Turkmenistan, winning strategy 14 Comments
Resources in Strategy; Lye Brook Wilderness
BOURN POND Its nice sitting in this tree. The sun has broken through intermittent clouds, switching on the brilliant leaves of my red maple. This is no ordinary tree. It’s a cage. The main trunk is normal for the first two or three feet. Then it splits into 5 sub-trunks that start horizontally for a couple of feet, then go straight up, creating a cage. Once inside it, your visual field is saturated red leaves. Gorgeous. The tree is on the shore of Bourn Pond in the Lye Brook Wilderness in southern Vermont; it’s the only place I’ve seen trees … Continue reading
Posted in Gray Area, strategy anatomy, strategy design, strategy elements Tagged Bourn Pond, creative thinking, devising, Gray Area, how to, Lye Brook Wilderness, resource, resourceful, silk, spider, survival, thinking skills, web 3 Comments
