Saturday, March 2, 2024

Napoleon's Glance - A different take on strategy


William Duggan teaches strategy at Columbia University, and has written the book, Napoleon's Glance as a rejoinder to the work of many that good strategy requires deep planning. He argues in his book that the secret to strategy is coup d'oeil. Literally it means a stroke of the eye or a glance. In Clausewitz, it will mean the sudden insight that shows you the course of action to take. You put a strategy in motion, but you have to be ready to take advantage of any opportunity when it presents itself.

This is an odd strategy. Plan and then jump at the right moment to exploit a chance that you may not have fully anticipated. Be flexible for the right moment. Is that good strategy, planning a strategy to be flexible?

Plan but be ready for the truth which may allow for exploitation for profit. Duggan present this idea through ten studies of different people from different walks of life. Each seize an opportunity within a plan to reach longer-term objectives. I am not fully convinced of this approach, but I also accept that being ready to adapt when new information or new events present themselves is a critical part of investing and business success. 

See:

From Von Clausewitz - Coup d'oeil - strategic intuition with a glance

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