Uncertainty is central to both the Eastern and Western approaches to strategy. The Chinese philosophical tradition – from which Sun Tzu emerged – recognised that, as minor fluctuations in conditions can amplify into dramatic changes, no two situations are ever identical and therefore no universal recipes can exist. While Clausewitz…

One day a clever hedgehog came to a wide river and was determined to cross it. Being a clever hedgehog he knew how to build bridges, so he set about building one over this river. Half-way done he stopped to admire his work. Looking back at the riverbank he saw…

What lessons can we learn from the Eastern approach to strategy when dealing with, for example, the kind of competitive threat Honda posed to Britain’s champions in the US motorcycle industry? Perhaps fortunately we have a case showing exactly what Honda did, a decade later, when their leading position was…

In any large organisation people are often building things that already exist somewhere else in the same organisation. They’re not doing this because they’re stupid. They’re re-building what you already have because they simply have no systematic way of knowing what other silos in the organisation are doing. …

It may seem counterintuitive but, to increase your project team’s chances of creating something of value may require reducing budgets, team size and deadline. …

A few weeks ago I wrote about how companies using Wardley Maps (well) for strategy, execution and organisational improvement often seem to be operating a decade or more ahead of others in the game. I discussed how the ‘Pioneer-Settler-Town Planner’ model in the Wardley Maps method (organising around different attitudes…

In any large organisation there are people building things that already exist somewhere else in the organisation. They’re not doing this because they’re evil or stupid. They’re doing this because they simply have no systematic way of knowing what other silos in the organisation are doing. Left unchecked this situation…

It may seem counterintuitive but, to increase your project team’s chances of creating something of value, may require reducing budgets, team size and deadlines. …

When you use Wardley Maps for strategy, execution or organisational improvement — as we do with a select group of clients — one of the most surprising things is how far they are ahead of the rest of the game. …