Our new book “On Strategy” from @ArmyUPress details the concepts, skills, and characteristics to think like a military strategist.

For @ambassadorbrief, I extract three lessons on strategy which will be useful for anyone... 1/

1. Strategy has its own logic; it is not merely an aggregate of physical or tactical actions

Competent strategists must distinguish between:
-- the logic that governs strategy’s selection of choices;
-- & the focus on task accomplishment that is at the heart of tactics. 2/

One space where leaders often fail to make this distinction – and where tactical action is mistaken for strategy – is in applying technology to solve complex problems. 3/

For example, the US military frequently deploys its airpower in targeted killings of terrorist leaders. At the tactical level, these actions have an immediate effect. But strategically, these strikes may not nest w/ or support a defined political end state for the war. 4/

2. Strategy is above all about solving problems, and getting things done

Good strategy is less about being able to pontificate on strategic theory, and more about an ability to MacGuyver a solution based on the tools at hand. 5/

Most of the characteristics that make for a good strategist exist along a spectrum and can be developed. But the essence of strategy is problem solving, and problem solvers have two indispensable characteristics: curiosity & a bias towards action. 6/

3. Strategy is a bridge between the continuities of the past and dramatically different in the future

Conflict will always be governed by aspects of human nature which are constant. But even as these human themes endure, the technology and context of the day change. 7/

Therefore, good strategists must be able to, as F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote, “hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function”. 8/

You can read these points greater detail in this piece for @ambassadorbrief here: https://bit.ly/3eHmocw  9/

And you can pick up a copy of the book from @ArmyUPress (which is free and available for download or to order a hard copy) here: https://www.armyupress.army.mil/Portals/7/combat-studies-institute/csi-books/on-strategy-a-primer.pdf Fin/