Science of Strategy Institute

Since every situation on the chaotic, front lines of competition is unique and changes from moment to moment, making good decisions requires a deep understanding of your position, the ability to see opportunities, and knowing instantly how to respond to situations. These are the basic skills of Sun Tzu's adaptive competitive strategy.

What Works In Complexity

In the complex, chaotic world of today, even the smallest decisions can have huge impact on your future. While everyone's immediate decisions address the immediate issues at hand, most people make those decisions without any comprehensive perspective on their situation. The results are that most people lose as many battles as they win and never make consistent progress. Events buffet them, turning them in one direction and then the next. Too often, they end up repeating their past patterns simply to get predictability in their lives, but it doesn't take them anywhere.

Traditional strategy focuses on positions. Positions are affected be conditions in the environment, but that effect is determined by our decisions. Conditions affect positions thorugh decisions. Strategic methods are a feedback loop. We can cling to our past patterns of behavior whether they work or not, or we can learn how to adapt our decisions to fit the changing conditions.

Seeing Conditions Differently

As you develop your strategic decision-making skills, the critical elements of conditions simple "pop" out at you. This isn't magic. It comes from using patterns to retrain your mind to see conditions differently. If you don't think that knowing the patterns can help you navigate complex situations, you probably should go through this simple demonstration of the power of patterns.  The study of successful adaptive response arose from military confrontations, where every battle clearly demonstrated how hard it is to predict events in the real world. Sun Tzu saw that winners were always those who knew how to respond appropriately to the dynamic nature of their situation.

The science of strategy provides a simple model for complex dynamic environments. That model "files" each piece of data into the appropriate place in the big picture. As the picture fills in, you can identify the opportunities hidden within the situation.

Making Decisions about Conditions

Instead of focusing on a series of planned steps, the science of strategy is about making decisions regarding conditions. It concerns itself with: 1) identifying the relative strengths and weaknesses of competitive positions, 2) advancing positions leveraging opportunities, and 3) the types of responses to specific challenges that work the most frequently. In the science of strategy, we call these three areas  position awareness, opportunity development, and situation response. Each area of adaptive strategy that you master broadens your capabilities.

Position awareness trains you to recognize that competitive situations are defined by the relationship among alternative positions. Developing this perspective never ends. It deepens throughout our lives. 

Opportunity development explores the ground, testing our perceptions. Only testing the edges of perspective through action can we know what is true.

Situation response trains us to recognize the key characteristics of the immediate situation and to respond appropriately. Only by practice, can we learn to trust the viewpoint we have developed.

Success in competitive environments comes from making better decisions every day. Sharp strategic reflexes flow from a clear understanding of  where and when you use which competitive tools methods. Read on...