Strategist Dictum 1: Do things for reasons.
So, what is this is absurd strategist nonsense I'm always going on about?
Good question.
Reflecting today on the nature of the world, I believe I have come to the core tenet of strategy. The one from which all other tenets flow, the quintessential, alpha-omega principle of strategy, which is -
Do things for reasons.
Wait, what?! What is this absurd nonsense? "Do things for reasons"? This guy aspires to be the greatest-something-or-other-victory-empire-strategy-what-the-hell, and what he's got to say is "Do things for reasons"? Do things for reasons?
Yes. Do things for reasons.
While this might simple on the surface, this is not the way most people run their lives.
Most people's daily lives are done out of custom, with no carefully evaluated and explicitly defined reasons for their actions. Worse still, decisions in high conflict and highly leveraged situations are usually made on the basis of naive emotion... which is horrifying if you really stop and reflect on what that means.
Most people do not do things for reasons. They do things "because that's the way it's done," or they go with their first impulse.
You might have as many as 10,000 nuanced options when you come to a crucially important decision. Outside of Disney movies, your first impulse is not at all likely to be the most effective one.
So again -
Strategist Dictum 1: Do things for reasons.
Which brings us to a corollary -
Strategist Corollary 1: Do not simply "do shit" for no reason.
Doing shit for no reason is a cause of lots of misery. Your wife is in a very bad mood one day and starts yelling. If you go with your first impulse, it will most likely be wrong, and your marriage will suffer. Out of the 10,000 options available to you, the naive impulse is unlikely to be the correct one.
The same is true in negotiations.
The same is true in the buying and selling of securities.
The same is true in choosing how to market your product.
The same is true in dealing with crime.
The same is true in maximizing tax revenues without destroying commerce.
The same is true in dealing with being insulted.
The same is true in dealing with criticism.
The same is true in choosing how to spend your money.
Doing things without reasons (usually because of habit/custom, or out of emotion) leads to ineffectiveness and misery.
The first dictum of strategy, then, is "do things for reasons."
The way to start doing that is to ask, "What is my objective here?"
Then, "What course of action makes me most likely to reach that objective?"
That's a little hard to remember when all hell is breaking loose. The simpler version is to ask yourself, "What is winning?"
Do things for reasons.
Don't "do shit" for no reason.
Your naive impulse is unlikely to produce the best result.
Ask, "What is my objective here? What gives me the best chance of reaching it?"
Ask, "What is winning?"
Follow up with action. Adjust if necessary. Win.