The paradox of choice why more is less

Barry Schwartz:

Good Strategy / Bad Strategy

Professor Richard Rumelt Chair: Professor Gordon Barrass Recorded on 20 October 2011
MP3 PodCast here  Bad strategy / Good Strategy:

Strategy doesn't just set goals, it defines the major problems and how you will deal with them.
It's a bad strategy if it's all fluff. Fluff is not a strategy. Identify and analyze the challenges.
A bad strategy is a laundry list of too many items.
A strategy is a coherent mix of policy & action designed to deal with a high stakes challenge. It has an essential kernel with 3 components.
  Diagnosis- what is the nature of the problem
  Guiding Policy- decisions that guide solutions
  Coherent Action- Strategy coordinates the predictable nature of life

Strategy is about insight.

Create proximate objectives. Get to the future by doing something now. Achievable in the near term. (Not blue sky)

Ride the wave.

Links matter. To achieve excellence, a bunch of things need to work. Each piece has to work right.

Expect entropy & inertia. The world is a mess and it's hard to get things to change.

Bad strategy is saying where we are going without saying how we are going to get there.

The primary element of good strategy is to focus energy on a proximate objective.

Don't rely on the 3 secrets of success:
  1) aim high - if you aim low you won't succeed.
  2) Never give up - if you give up, you won't succeed.
  3) Don't think too much becasue you might start to question #s 1 & 2

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