Category Archives: strategy anatomy

Strategy in the News: Drones, a New Resource

Posted on July 30, 2012 by Bill Carson

DRONING THE FARM  Robert Blair’s neighbors have grown accustomed to seeing him launch a small aircraft over his fields in Idaho.  It’s a nice-looking little plane about 4 ft. long, with a wingspan of around 8 feet, that systematically flies back and forth over sections of his land. What’s Blair doing with this thing?  He runs a good-sized operation – 1,500 acres.  It’s hard to know where and how much to be tending the crops on a spread this size.  And the cost of tending them has risen dramatically as the costs of fertilizer, fuel and water have increased. So targeting … Continue reading →

Posted in strategy anatomy, strategy design, strategy elements, strategy in the news | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Resources in Strategy; Lye Brook Wilderness

Posted on May 11, 2012 by Bill Carson

BOURN POND Its nice sitting in this  tree.  The sun has broken through intermittent clouds, switching on the brilliant leaves of my red maple.  This is no ordinary tree.  It’s a cage.  The main trunk is normal for the first two or three feet.  Then it splits into 5 sub-trunks that start horizontally for a couple of feet, then go straight up, creating a cage.  Once inside it, your visual field is saturated red leaves.  Gorgeous.  The tree is on the shore of Bourn Pond in the Lye Brook Wilderness in southern Vermont; it’s the only place I’ve seen trees … Continue reading →

Posted in Gray Area, strategy anatomy, strategy design, strategy elements | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Mismatch – the Heart of a Strategy

Posted on January 13, 2012 by Bill Carson

Trick question Question 1:  What do successful strategies for drilling a board, catching a pass and winning a dogfight have in common?  Answer:  a mismatch between an advantage and a vulnerability. Question 2:  In what way is Question 1 a trick question? Answer:  because at bottom all successful strategies are based on a mismatch – it has nothing to do with the specifics of the 3 examples. And that’s the point. To have a successful strategy of any kind, you have to arrange for a mismatch that will result in getting to your objective. And what is a mismatch?  It’s a disparity in some … Continue reading →

Posted in cool strategies, efficient strategies, strategy anatomy | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments