Tools - Basic Arts

The secret process of expert thinkers

I’m going to level with you. It’s about how I work. And I’ll admit up front, it makes me look kinda lazy and unprofessional. But

How to make strategy stick

The other day I stumbled across this Kevin Kelly quote which really sums up something I’ve learned in the past couple of years: “To make

The correct use of a “why” within strategy

The following is an excerpt from a book I’m working on, called: No Bullshit Strategy: A founder’s guide to forming a strategy that actually works

5 tips on executing strategy

You’ve heard me say it before, and you’ll hear me say it again: A strategy is only as good as the action it provokes. It’s

Here’s how to get your organisation to commit to strategy

If any of you have read my free little ebook Make Companies Without Competitors, or seen my “Love your competitors” talk, you’ll know that central

The 3 ways to judge a strategy

There are two ways a strategy can fail: By being wrong By not being a strategy The first of these, I’m sorry to say, you

The how cascade – where goals end and strategy begins

Of all the strategic sins one could commit, there are few more heinous than the confusion of “goals” with “strategy”. Fortunately it’s so bad that

What my strategy documents look like

One question new clients tend to ask when we begin working together, is “what do I get at the end of this?”. Naturally, they get

Glossary of strategic ideas – volume 2

The following, as suggested by the title, is an update to my old post cataloguing various strategic hacks, tricks, and thought experiments. The article and old

The opposites game: how to tell if a strategy is nonsense

By my conservative estimate, about 90% of business strategies are, when you get down to it, exactly the same. They use different words, different rationales,

The most simple strategic framework

I’ve made a song and dance in the past about my aversion to templates, models, frameworks, and the like in order to generate strategy. None,

Minimum viable strategy: the art of leaving things alone

The other day I was introduced to a lovely idea which I’m sure will resonate strongly with anyone who has to do something “creative” for