The (third) one on planning
From theory to practice
Friends,
I hope that all is well with you and yours, and that this e-mail finds you on a boat with shoddy connection, in the tropics, three months after I sent it.
Now accepting keynotes for 25Q3-25Q4
The 2025 lineup:
What to do when you don’t know what to do.
How to create a sustainable competitive advantage through superior adaptability. (Based on the new book by the same name.)
Succeed big, fail small.
How to use experimentation to drive efficiency and effectiveness of innovation at scale.
Managing radical uncertainty.
How to steer an organization through a sea of change.
Retail 3.0.
How to build a profitable retail business in the modern marketplace. (Based on the 2026 follow-up to the 2022 smash hit white paper The Gravity of e-Commerce.)
If you want to book me for your event, corporate speaking slot, or workshop, merely send me an email. To make sure I am available, please do so at your earliest convenience; my availability is limited and the schedule tends to fill up fast. More information may be found here.
The TL;DR
There are all sorts of issues with strategic planning, but strategists sometimes have to play the cards that they have been dealt. Fortunately, there are practical ways to work around some of the flaws in the theory.
The strategic planning process is one of analysis, goal-setting, formulation, and execution. In that order, though many will disagree.
The key to make planning work lies in ensuring that there is enough room for adaptation; planners should be loose on executional details, but clear on intent, desired end-state, and ownership.
Communication in both directions is crucial. Employees may fail to see the forest for the trees, but managers habitually fail to see the trees for the forest.
Zuckerberg is doing what Zuckerberg does; this time, it is a massive bet on AI.
Apple has seemingly decided to acquire the insights that the firm cannot generate itself. The first target is… …perplexing.
Personal updates before we go-go
Another week of complete mayhem. Oh, if only I could afford to take some vacation.
The year thus far has been very productive, with excellent progress on the book (it is nearly finished), a number of immensely enjoyable keynotes around the world, and what seems to be groundbreaking work on uncertainty. But with two small children at home, one of whom refuses to sleep past 5 am, I am just about ready to collapse into a coma.
Speaking of keynotes, there are still some dates left for this fall. August is fully booked; September and October are pretty much entirely open; November is looking to become fully booked (potentially one or two more slots available); December is sitting around 50%.
If you want to bring me in for your conference, corporate event, or just to speak to your executives, managers and/or employees, just send me an email. Given that the book is nearing completion, dates may go quickly. Sooner is far better than later.
Mercedes just introduced their new concept cars. In the eternal words of Bart Simpson: ay caramba. From the absolutely exquisite Vision Mayback 6 convertible to an unholy mix between the worst of BMW, Hyundai’s EV department, and the leftover bin at Maserati. I mean, sheesh…
Oh, and I hate deer. As far as I am concerned, Bambi’s mother got what was coming to her.
Moving on to markets.