The Essence of Strategic Success (2)

The Importance of Having a Big Tangible Picture (BTP)

By seeing the configuration behind their competitive terrain, the successful strategists are able to do the following:

• Create the opportunity;
• Find the opportunity; and
• Wait for the opportunity

Wait for the Opportunity

Underdogs who wait, sometimes prevailed over the favored by finding the various undisclosed relevant variables (the components of the BTP) that give them the strategic advantage (aka. strategic power). The specifics behind these critical strategic factors typically give the strategist the prospect of certain occurrences.

Comprehending the configuration of the BTP usually enables one to do the following:

• Knowing when to stay on course;
  
• Knowing when to add more resources to the current campaign;
  
• Knowing when to update the objective; and
  
• Knowing when to exit.

Afterthoughts

A top-tier strategist once told us, that " ... Understanding the current state of the grand terrain and then forecasting the next change are two of the many ways that would give the up and coming strategists the professional credibility that they all sought. for. It is more effective than the constant preaching of 'basic strategic leadership values'."

After a moment of contemplation, we realized that those who preach the holiness of the Art of War (or any of the Seven Strategic Classics) usually cannot describe how to methodically use it. They have a tendency of treating each quote like a fortune cookie saying. If their followers believed that perspective, we wished them well.

We believed that the use of the strategic process that supported those principles, is a better starting point for those who are looking for an efficient solution. The proper execution of the process is the key to most successes.