John Braddock's Blog, page 6

The Mindset(s) Of Strategy

Strategy is hard. It's hard because of risk, chance and uncertainty. It's hard because outcomes are hard. But it's especially hard because it requires three different mindsets. The first rule of strategy, as Dixit and Nalebuff say, is "Look forward and reason backward." That rule has two things in it:1. Look forward.2. Reason backward. It's hard to do both. Because they require two different mindsets. Looking forward is an act of imagination. It's creating a vision. It's extrapolation beyond...

A New Rule To Improve The Game Of Soccer

Soccer (or football) is a zero-sum game. At the end, there's a winner. And a loser. Or a tie. Only two ways the game can end, but three possible outcomes for each team. However the game ends, the total gained for the teams is zero.Zero-Sum. When you think about Zero-Sum Games, you think about rules. You think about how to win. You think about how to win within the rules. You also think about how rule changes could make for a better game.In soccer, you win by scoring the most goals.But it's no...

The Rule Of Four (Or Five)

You can make strategy easy if you focus on one thing. A goal. An objective. A single measure. It's also a good way to make sure your strategy fails.  Because a good strategy always requires more than one thing. One thing isn't enough. Not even close. When a business asks me to consult, it's because they have a problem. Or an opportunity. Or they're missing something and don't where to start. Whatever it is, they think it's one thing. A single problem. A single opportunity. A single thing they...

President Trump's Strategy Of Conflict

Scott Adams wrote this about President Trump's first week: "Here’s how the math of persuasion works in this situation:1 outrage out of 3 headlines in a week: Bad Persuasion25 outrages out of 25 headlines in a week: Excellent PersuasionAt the moment there are so many outrages, executive orders, protests, and controversies that none of them can get enough oxygen in our brains. I can’t obsess about problem X because the rest of the alphabet is coming at me at the same time." Scott Adams calls it...

The First Step Of Strategy

If you're a strategist, you start at the end.  You think about where you want to be. What will be there. Who will be there. You start at the end.Then, you think backward.Which is hard. It's the opposite of how most people think. Most people think forward. Most people start where they are now. They think about what they have now.  Then, they think about what's possible. They think about what they can do with what they have now. They think forward.Which is wrong.But not completely wrong. It's w...

Money Buys What in Politics?

A lot of talk in American politics is about money. Maybe you think there’s too much money. Maybe too little. Or maybe, money in politics doesn’t matter at all.Donald Trump is rich, but he’s spending little on his campaign. Jeb Bush raised hundreds of millions of dollars and lost. Hillary Clinton raised lots of money, too, and she’s losing to Bernie Sanders, who doesn’t have much money.Money doesn’t equal victory in politics. Pretty clear.But political money does something, or people wouldn’t...