Though the author is a retired Major General of the U.S. Air Force Reserve, The Art of the Strategist does not prepare you for battle. In fact, as a disciple of Peter Drucker, he rejects any facile comparisons between war and business. What his book does, however, is provide and explain ten practical principles for any company concerned with winning.
Successful strategy is evident all around us if we know where to look, he says: It's in everything from the Battle of Cannae in 216 B.C. to the American reality TV show Survivor. Such examples help to illustrate his ten rules for squelching the competition.
These are, in order and in his words: "Commit fully to a definitive objective; seize the initiative and keep it; economize to mass your resources; use strategic positioning; do the unexpected; keep things simple; prepare multiple, simultaneous alternatives; take the indirect route to your objective; practice timing and sequencing; and finally (and we should all be so fortunate), exploit your success."—Sara Grant