The Strategy Clockwork Newsletter

I have looked at several LinkedIn Newsletter examples and I like this format. So, why not give you the possibility to read one that is essentially only about Strategy. I guess that is the next best thing that I can do until you will be able to hold in your hands a book that is titled The Strategy Clockwork, which is in the pipeline. And maybe even after publishing the book, this may continue, as some sort of club newsletter for those who have read it.

We'll have one issue of the newsletter published every weekend, so you can have something strategic (sic!) to read when you drink your Monday morning coffee, just before jumping into some early week firefighting. I'll try to publish it on Saturday or Sunday morning, as some people start their weekly firefighting on Sunday, not on Monday.

It's probably my engineering formation that makes me a slave of logic. I can accept almost anything that is based on a logic argumentation. A left-brainer, without a doubt. That is why I regard Strategy from a logical perspective. And what better logical principle can power Strategy other than causality. That is because before we put Strategy into practice, it has to have a strong theory at its foundation. And, to quote Clayton Christensen,

A theory is a statement of causality for understanding what causes what and why.

Therefore, we should not exaggerate if we say that Strategy is a set of theories about what should we change in our lives, or in the life of our companies, in the pursuit of happiness or of better economic results. But which are the theories relevant for describing Strategy? This is the question that has pushed me forward, for the past twelve years or so, in my quest for understanding what Strategy is and how it works. Whenever anyone asks Elon Musk how he learned to build space rockets, this is his three-word answer: "I read books". So that is what I did, as well. I have invested the time and money for reading hundreds of books about Strategy or close related to it. Then, to the best of the business opportunities that I have got, I have tested in practice what I have learned from those books and from connecting the dots of the theories about Strategy that their authors have described.

The result of all these things? The Strategy Clockwork, an integrative construct that attempts to glue together, in a logical way, the most relevant theories about Strategy that thought leaders have published until now. And that is an almost continuous process, as new illuminating theories are born every year, adding-up or reinforcing our model.

About those Strategy theories will we talk about in the issues of the newsletter. To catch the attention of those interested more in the Strategy Formulation cycle, or more in the Strategy Execution cycle, we'll alternate the focus of each consecutive newsletter issue between the two cycles. Until then, I'll leave you with the diagram that will guide us through the journey of this coming newsletter.

Enjoy!

Strategy Clockwork?newsletter?articles:

The Strategic Alignm ent

Strategy Skunk Works

Don't Rely on a Single Strategy!

Without a Plan, Strategy is a Fairytale

Design Thinking inside Strategy

Beyond [static] Balanced Scorecard

The Deeply Integrated Strategy

The Game inside Strategy

The Balance of Strategic Choices

The Corporate Balanced Scorecard