Non-strategy books for strategists
If you’re a strategist I probably don’t have to pitch you reading. You’re probably already naturally curious with an appetite that tends towards mastery. Articles and blogs are useful for staying current, but I find I need to spend hours with a topic before I synthesize it. I don’t often read expressly to improve my craft, but sometimes that happens serendipitously and I’ll read something that helps me think differently or broadens my perspective as a strategist.
Here are a few books I really appreciate as a strategist, even though that’s not why I read them:
Subtitled “The power of knowing what you don’t know,” Think Again certainly looks like it could be a strategy book. In a way it is, I guess. Someone once described strategy to me as “using your brain to solve your client’s problems” and while that’s boundlessly vague it’s nevertheless perfectly accurate. Think Again is a book about how to use your brain - as opposed to letting your brain use you. It helps you understand the biases behind decision-making, and how to break through them to be more rational. The strategist in me loves chapter 2, “The Armchair Quarterback and the Impostor” which discusses the journey towards and then away from confidence as we learn more about something. It details the Dunning Kruger effect and“Mount Stupid,” and includes an anecdote about how Steve Jobs at first hated the idea of turning the iPod into a phone.
Impostor syndrome is actually a symptom of rising expertise, even if it feels like abject incompetence.
Think Again also has a chapter entitled “The Joy of Being Wrong,” which is about the small percentage of humans who - when they find their beliefs challenged or corrected - immediately relish the idea that they’ve just learn something and grown. And “Vaccine Whsperers and Mild-Mannered Interrogators” includes techniques on how to convince other people to change their minds. Both of these ended up being a direct hit for strategy work.
2. The Inner Game of Tenis by Timothy Gallwey
Written in 1997, The Inner Game of Tennis is a book about tennis in the same way that modern marketers treat Sun Tzu’s The Art of War as a book about war. That is, the whole thing can be read as a metaphor - and a sports metaphor at that (my favorite kind). The book is about learning a new skill, and how important the mind is in mastering that new skill. Gallwey talks about the outer game as what you see on the court - where the players stand, how they move, what shots they choose. The inner game, in contrast, is what’s happening - or not happening - in their minds as they execute the outer game. The outer game is played against an opponent. The inner game is played against obstacles like indecision, nervousness, self-doubt, anxiety. Starting to sound like strategy work yet?
Mindfulness is a strong component of the book, though it’s talked about more as “being present” and “staying focused.” It also shows up in understanding what we can control and what we can’t. In a passage that could be as much about pitching as the mixed doubles semi-final he writes,
When I’m concerned only about winning, I’m caring about something that I can’t wholly control. Whether I win or lose the external game is a result of my opponent’s skill and effort as well as my own. When one is emotionally attached to results that he can’t control, he tends to become anxious and then try too hard. But one can control the effort he puts into winning… One final word of caution. It is said that all great things are achieved by great effort. Although I believe that is true, it is not necessarily true that all great effort leads to greatness.
If Inner Game can be read as a metaphor, Getting Naked was written as one. Dubbed “a business fable” it’s ostensibly a fictional story but aims to illustrate a philosophy. The “naked” part of the title refers to vulnerability, and how it’s the key towards building the kind of trust that leads to partnership. One anecdote in the story I come back to a lot is when this consulting team goes in to meet with a new prospect. No pitch, no capabilities presentation - they just start asking what’s wrong and immediately begin workshopping some approaches with the client. Yes, much of my affinity for that episode is just wistfulness after being in a pitch-centric culture for so long. But I think there’s a lot of value for strategists to immediately start acting as a collaborator. We’re often tempted to show clients what we know and can do, but the book reminds us that there’s no such thing as a stupid question if it’s helping you better understand the problem. Ultimately it’s a story about building partnership, which is a skillset - and mindset - that serves strategists well.