It Starts With Strategy

-Or "Second star to the right and straight on till morning"

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Today’s subtitle comes, of course, from Peter Pan and provides directions to Neverland. The constellation ‘Crux’ better known as the Southern Cross is shown in the image above.

Think.

Over the next three weeks, we’ll hit the three levels of war (strategic, operational, & tactical) individually and we’ll discuss how we can apply the concept to our war of getting better at getting better.

It is essential to begin with the strategic, the end goal. We need a strategic vision.

And while I like to use combat-oriented terms, this is what Aristotle was referring to when he said:

Happiness then, is found to be something perfect and self-sufficient, being the end to which our actions are directed.

Aristotle, The Nicomachean Ethics

Without an end to direct our actions we are left, at best, to flounder about performing random acts of self-improvement. This is akin to an Allied patrol wandering the French countryside hoping to run into some Nazis and then hoping that when they do, the ensuing tactical action will help win the war.

Anything’s possible but as we often say in military planning, “Hope is not a course of action”.

So how do we go about developing our strategic vision?

I like to think of strategic vision as a guide in the night sky.

In the Northern Hemisphere, we often refer to being guided by the North Star. Unfortunately, I don’t think that is adequate for our strategic vision.

We need a constellation.

In the past, I have written about the Raiders of WWII in the Pacific and the Southern Cross constellation that surrounded the skull on their patch, and how that emblem is still worn with pride by today’s Raiders. I’m partial to it, but you can choose Orion, Cassiopeia, Ursa Major, or whatever constellation strikes your fancy.

The Southern Cross on the Raider Patch at Camp Myler, the Detachment One compound in Iraq, 2004.

The idea is that we will develop three to five guiding strategic purposes, or life priorities that will comprise the constellation of our strategic vision.

Criteria for these priorities are that they should be:

• Bigger than yourself (transformational & aspirational)

• Have no finish line (not write a book, but inspire, inform, or entertain through writing)

• Things you would do if you didn’t have to do anything (it should excite you)

• Things you want to be known/remembered for (your legacy)

You are probably familiar with the Japanese concept of Ikigai. Ikigai is expressed as a four-circle Venn diagram, but in keeping with my contrarian nature, we will initially only focus on two circles:

-What you love.

-What the world needs (If that’s too big, what does your community, or family need).

We need to start with these two.

If we can nail them down, the other two circles: What you are good at, and what you can make a living at, will follow.

Once we have a constellation that is visible, meaningful, and exciting, we can move toward it.

Then we can establish operational objectives and tactical missions that move us along the path to strategic success.

Or if you're into Maslow, Self-actualization.

This is also what Aristotle would have called a state of eudemonic well-being.

Here’s the first step:

This is an exercise I do with my coaching clients. Over the next several weeks start keeping a list of items that meet the above criteria. We are interested in divergent thinking. Don’t worry about organizing your thoughts yet. Go for volume. Don’t shy away from wild ideas. Get lots of thoughts on paper or your notes app. What excites you? What would you do if you didn’t have to do anything? What are you curious about? What is a passion bigger than yourself?

We’ll come back to the list at the end of the month.

Read. Field Notes

By

Erik Hogan

I just found Eric’s substack which includes amazing photography and beautiful writing. Check it out.

Reflections on Life in Opacity

Write.

Since I gave your writing prompt above, I will just let you know that edits to my manuscript are nearly complete, and I am working on finalizing the acknowledgments section which I have to be careful about keeping to an appropriate length because the list of people who deserve recognition is far too long to include. I am also selecting and captioning photos including the one above that will appear in the book.

Repeat.

Words of wisdom from those who said it best.

“Strategy is not the consequence of planning, but the opposite, its starting point.”

Henry Mintzberg

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See you next Thursday!