ABSTRACT
Chapter 1 discussed the various aspects of strategy. In Chapter 2, the traditional strategy typologies were added. Are you still with me or have you lost your bearings by now? If the latter is true, you have entered the state of mind initially experienced by strategists who find themselves in a totally new situation: lots of trees, but where on earth is the wood? In the courses I teach, I am often confronted at this stage with increasingly frustrated participants – some of them experienced managers. ‘We used to know what strategy was, but now we don’t.’ Oh dear, this seems to be a genuine wicked-problem experience! As with the wicked problems discussed at the end of Chapter 1, I would recommend that you do not try to rid yourself of this feeling too quickly. Learn to live with the confusion for a while. Examine the various aspects and gradually attempt to get a grip on it. After all, ending this confusion too quickly may lead only to a false sense of security, or even decisiveness – if you are the active type. Walk around and take a look at the trees from different angles. Examine clumps of trees in isolation or compare them . . . and at some point you will again develop a sense of the wood as a whole. Perhaps the wood you see will be totally different to the wood that your competitors see, which could be helpful!
