This Is Strategy: Make Better Plans (Create a Strategy to Elevate Your Career, Community & Life)

by Seth Godin

Human-built systems have elements in common. Generally, you’ll find: • Boundaries—they begin and end somewhere • Benefits—people voluntarily engage with a system because they believe in the promises it makes • Bystanders—often, people who don’t want to be in the system are still involved in it • Information flows—a shared language and expectations creates trust and efficiency • Stability—the system offers its participants a reliable picture of the future • Protocols—there are shorthands, processes, and methods of how things are done • Roles—participants in the system seek or gain status and affiliation through their actions • Resilience and feedback loops—when something disrupts the system, it works to push back and regain equilibrium • Convenience and efficiency—even though systems aren’t perfect, they offer participants outputs that encourage them to support it • Side effects—every system also creates outputs that aren’t ideal for non-participants or those that are part of it. And so we find systems like: • Big-time college sports • Starbucks • Religious practices • The chocolate industry • Your local volunteer fire department • The community orchestra • The dating scene in certain parts of Boise, Idaho