Tag Archives: objective

Bad Strategy: Unintended Consequences

Posted on December 5, 2012 by Bill Carson

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

Distributed Strategy; the Personal Dikes of Hamburg

Posted on November 9, 2012 by Bill Carson

HAMBURG is a special city. Having recovered from a real pounding during WWII, it’s become the 2nd largest port in Europe. The prosperity coming with that is everywhere evident, not least along the waterways: the many canals, and the large Elbe River, itself, with its energetic commerce. Many of the canals are lined with beautiful homes and trendy old brick warehouse conversions. The Elbe is its own trip. On the West bank resides the container ship port with all the ship traffic, giant cranes simultaneously unloading and reloading ships, and robotic vehicles transporting the containers to and from awaiting trains and trucks. … Continue reading →

Posted in centralized strategies, distributed strategies, strategy design, strategy types | Tagged aspen, centralized strategies, dikes, distributed strategies, Elbe River, electric motors, flood, Hamburg, objective, Strategy Types, sub-strategy | 6 Comments

Strategy in the News: Drones, a New Resource

Posted on July 30, 2012 by Bill Carson

DRONING THE FARM Robert Blair’s neighbors have grown accustomed to seeing him launch a small aircraft over his fields in Idaho. It’s a nice-looking little plane about 4 ft. long, with a wingspan of around 8 feet, that systematically flies back and forth over sections of his land. What’s Blair doing with this thing? He runs a good-sized operation – 1,500 acres. It’s hard to know where and how much to be tending the crops on a spread this size. And the cost of tending them has risen dramatically as the costs of fertilizer, fuel and water have increased. So targeting … Continue reading →

Posted in strategy anatomy, strategy design, strategy elements, strategy in the news | Tagged advantage, barrier, creative thinking, critical thinking, drone, elements, exploit, objective, resource, strategy diagram, vulnerability | 2 Comments

How to Devise a Strategy: Affordable Coffee

Posted on January 20, 2012 by Bill Carson

We’re all wired to devise strategies. So you just have to put the right info into your head, and it will take care of the rest. Let it all sit there. Give your intuition an opportunity to do its work. You’re objective will create the pull that draws out the strategy. Your barriers and available resources, and their many possibilities, will shape it. It will come to you. Here’s an example of devising a strategy This method is easy, and makes sense. It follows the natural thinking sequence of problem > opportunity > solution. Situation: You like to drink a … Continue reading →

Posted in strategy design | Tagged coffee, elements, exploit, external factors, how to, mismatch, objective, opportunity, parties, popper, price, problem, resource, solution, thinking skills, timing, vulnerability | 14 Comments

What Strategies Are

Posted on January 13, 2012 by Bill Carson

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 advantage, barrier, besiegers, cows, exploit, Monsanto, objective, Portugal, resource, strategy definition, thinking skills, vulnerability | 3 Comments

Anatomy of a Strategy

Posted on January 13, 2012 by Bill Carson

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 advantage, anatomy, barrier, Egypt, element pairs, elements, exploit, geometry, how to win, mismatch, objective, opportunity, problem, resource, solution, vulnerability | 5 Comments