Strategy Legend, Author of Good Strategy Bad Strategy
STRATEGY
The Framework
The Strategy Kernel
"A strategy is a design for overcoming a high-stakes challenge. It's a mixture of policy and action designed to deal with a challenge."
Diagnosis: Deep understanding of what's actually wrong
Guiding policy: What you will and won't do
Coherent action: Specific steps that reinforce each other
All three elements must be present or it's not really strategy
Bad Strategy Alert
What Kills Strategy Dead
Missing diagnosis: Saying "we're not growing fast enough" is a complaint, not a diagnosis
Abstract goals instead of action: "17 priorities" and "work together more effectively" are ambitions, not strategies
Word salad: Using fancy language to hide the fact you haven't done the thinking
Incoherent actions: Doing things that fight each other (grow faster AND increase profit margins simultaneously)
The 17-Priority TrapA client had 17 "priorities." That's a laundry list of wishes, not a strategy. A priority means the first. Not everything that matters.
The DoD Example17 intelligence agencies saying they'll "work together more effectively" without identifying the actual barriers? That's not diagnosis. That's hope.
Building Strategy
From Ambition to Action Agenda
Start with ambitions: Accept them all. What do you want to achieve?
Filter by addressable challenges: Which problems can you actually solve? Which matter most?
The overlap is your focus: Important + achievable = your action agenda
Skip the mission/vision step: You don't need perfect values before you can act
Define action steps, not goals: "Here's what we will do" beats "Here's what we want to achieve"
Don't call it strategy
Call it an "action agenda." It's simpler. It forces clarity. It's tactical but rooted in diagnosis.
The Crux concept
In mountaineering, the crux is the hardest pitch. If you can't do the crux, don't take the climb. Focus on the one hard thing blocking your progress.
Diagnosis Skill
The Hardest Work
Ask "What makes it hard?" repeatedly until you get the real answer
Resist the first diagnosis — the "piece of wood" you grab when drowning
Study history to practice: Read the Great Depression, understand why it happened without modern explanations
Look at data over time: Capital goods adoption curves peak, then decline — that's a pattern
Decide on a diagnosis — you can't act until you've resolved the debate
Focus Is PowerConcentration on a few things is the fundamental source of power in strategy. Each time you say yes, you risk turning a good strategy into a bad one.
Contrarian Truths
Strategy Myths Rumelt Breaks
✗You need mission, vision, values before strategyINSTEAD →✓ Start with the challenge. Ambitions and values come later. Strategy is problem-solving first.
✗Goals are strategyINSTEAD →✓ Goals are ambitions. Strategy is coherent action to overcome a specific challenge. Totally different animals.
✗More priorities = more coverageINSTEAD →✓ More priorities = less focus = weaker strategy. A few coherent actions beat scattered ambitions.
✗Strategy is high-level, conceptual planningINSTEAD →✓ Strategy must include specific, coherent action. No action = no strategy. It's an action agenda.