For this very first daily post, three quotes about strategy and reality.
In his book “Le Vide Stratégique” (English translation: “The Strategic Void”, sadly I don’t think this book has been translated into English) Phillipe Baumard describes the strategic void as the refusal to define reality.
“On a cessé de vouloir définir le réel. On s’est décidé à le subir ou à le mater, comme on materait un mal au ventre persistant à coups d’antalgiques.”
Translated to english:
“We no longer try to define reality. We’ve resigned ourselves to endure it—or to subdue it, the way one numbs a persistent stomach ache with painkillers.”
Check tomorrow’s dailies for the full quote and definition of strategy by Philippe Baumard.
Second quote is from “Good Strategy Bad Strategy” by Richard Rumelt:
A good strategy recognizes the nature of the challenge and offers way of surmounting it. Simply being ambitious is not a strategy.
With Rumelt, the reality takes the form of a challenge. But he reminds us that the definition of this challenge, the diagnostic is the prerequisite to finding a way to surmount it.
Third quote is more recent, from “This Is Strategy” by Seth Godin.
On his entry 76, he writes:
“Our strategy sets us up for success when it is based in reality of the systems all around us, the desires of those we need to work with, and the insight to embrace resilience instead of insisting that the world align with our needs at all times.”
I thought it was a nice addition to my collection of quotes about strategy and its relationship with reality.
I especially like the last part, about embracing resilience.
Perhaps reminding us that the end result of Rumelt’s diagnostic of the challenge, very well might be that it is not a solvable problem, not a winnable game. Or perhaps the wrong game.