“The military weapon is but one of the means that serve the purposes of war: one out of the assortment which grand strategy can employ. “
This is a continuation of my post: On Strategy, brought about by my reading of the book Strategy by BH Liddel Hart.
For the last couple of years I have been involved in creating and implementing web strategies for companies (large & small) around the country. I had been caught up in the world of strategy for the internet and had failed to realize the concept of grand strategy – the overall strategy composed of multiple strategic plans. It’s like one of those many things that you learn in life and turn around and say, “how did I miss that?” afterwards.
In business you have tactical, hands-on implementation of strategy in every department. Each department also has a strategy, and it needs at least one strategist in order to see the vision for the future, recognize challenges and creatively grow value in their organization. Over and above the departmental strategist lies the grand strategist. His role is to see and strategize beyond, what his departmental strategist see.
“It should be the aim of grand strategy to discover and pierce the Achilles’ heel of the opposing government’s power to make war. Strategy, in turn, should seek to penetrate a joint in the harness of the opposing forces. To apply one’s strength where the opponent is strong weakens oneself disproportionately to the effect attained. To strike with strong effect, one must strike at weakness.”
The practical implementation of this is recognizing the need for minor and major strategists within an organization. It should also be noted that being a visionary alone does not make you a strategist – you have to be a problem solver, a creative and imaginary thinker, and most of all recognize the value in using the indirect approach to solving challenges.