I love strategy. The best book ever on this topic is “33 strategies of war” by Robert Greene. Type “strategy” on my website , and you will get a bundle of blogs covering books, chess, toolsets, filters, future trends, scenario prompts, etc. You name it, and it is covered.
I decided to pick up “This Is Strategy: Make Better Plans” by Seth Godin. In the beginning, I was hugely unimpressed. It felt similar to his book “The Carbon Almanac”, which I hated. However, “This is strategy” starts to grow on you. It has 297 chapters with some very pertinent observations and questions. The book reminded me of “Pattern breakers“. It is excellent.
Strategy is the soil, the seed, and the gardener working together over time. Strategy is our chance to make an impact. Strategy as the philosophy of becoming. Strategy as the compass (not the map, not the goal and not a list of tasks).
The modern strategic plan
He divides the modern business plan into six sections:
- Truth
- Assertions
- Alternatives
- People
- Money
- Time
Truth
The truth section describes the world as it is. The more specific, the better. The more ground knowledge the better. The more visceral the stories, the better. Truth can take as long as you need to tell it.
Assertions
The assertions section is your chance to describe how you’re going to change things. We will do X, and then Y will happen. In this section, share your business model. The tension you’re going to create. The scaffolding you will build. This is the heart of the modern business plan.
Alternatives
Of course, this section will be incorrect. You will make assertions that won’t pan out. You’ll miss budgets and deadlines and sales. So, the alternatives section tells me what you’ll do if that happens. How much flexibility does your product or team have? If your assertions don’t pan out, is it over?
People
The people section rightly highlights the key element—who is on your team and who is going to join your team. Who doesn’t mean their résumé. Instead, talk about their attitudes and abilities.
Money
The next section is all about money. Because projects = money + time. How much do you need, how will you spend it, what does cash flow look like, what are P&Ls, balance sheets, margins, and exit strategies?
Time
Finally, for emphasis, time. What will differ a week, month, or year after you launch?
Covering
Elegance, agency, system thinking, status quo, intent, discipline, flow, information, game theory, timing, network effects, tactics, emotion, business models, customer traction, leverage, The Minimum Viable Audience, uncertainty, resilience, choices, customers, competition, validation, distribution, scaling, quality, magic, interoperability, genre, media, pricing, delay, engagement, managing expectations, stickiness, constraints, drift, false proxies, change makers, intent, turbulence, gatekeepers, tension, Metcalfe’s Law, trust, tribalism, substitutes, best practice, analogies, positioning, regrets, assets, data, culture, climate change, action, chiselling, asynchronicity, sunk cost, sunk clowns and strategy as the journey. Actively morphing your own future. Also read “Imaginable: How to see the future coming and be ready for anything“.
Questions that lead to strategies
It is all summarised in chapter 297, “Questions that lead to strategies”. That chapter alone makes the book worthwhile. It is a blueprint for strategy development.
- Who is the project for?
- What change do you seek to make?
- What assets and resources do you have?
- What is the timeline?
- What system are you operating in?
- What systems need to change to succeed?
- Where is the tension?
- What are the status roles at play?
- How big is your circle of us and the circle of now?
- How do you create the network effect?
- What are the feedback loops?
- What are the rules of the game?
- How can you increase the odds of success?
- What is the smallest viable audience?
- What are the false proxies?
- Is there a shift?
- What will early adopters say?
- What is the scaffolding?
- What can you learn from comparable projects?
- What partnerships, affiliations and collaborations can you create’
- Are you tapping into an insatiable desire?
- How and when do you adjust the strategy?
- Is the strategy resilient enough?
- What are the quick wins?
- What is the genre?
- What are the success indicators?
- How do you tap into status, affiliation and/or security?
- What anomalies and contradictions in the system can you leverage?
- What incumbents will perceive you as a threat?
- What are the sunk costs for potential clients?
- What are the standard objections?
- What identity and worldview do you portray?
- How do you lower the barriers to stepping in?
- How do you shorten the delays in the feedback loops?
- How do you avoid getting trapped in your own sunk cost?
- How can you improve project hygiene?
- How will you resist the social gravity to conform?
Go do
The book’s final paragraph tells you that you have all the tools to make a difference. Understand the system, understand the game and ask the questions. Be persistent. Go create impact. Go make a ruckus. Go do.
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