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*Staff Engineer* introduces an approach I call [Take five, then synthesize](https://lethain.us20.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f7003ed301623a88fab7cf783&id=1e5e9d0544&e=a102c6f471), which does strategy by: 1. Documenting how five current and historical related decisions have been made in your organization. This is an extended exploration phase 2. Synthesizing those five documents into a diagnosis and policy. You are naming the implicit strategy, so it’s impossible for someone to reasonably argue you’re not empowered to do strategy: you’re just describing what’s already happening

Who Gets to Do Strategy? @ Irrational Exuberance

Will Larson

Planning **Planning** is an • Internally-focused, • Analytical approach Focused on making the most of things *within* our control: • Our People • Time • Resources With the goal of optimizing for *efficiency*. To produce some end result we think *should* achieve our internal goals. Strategy **Strategy**, on the other hand, is a • Client-centric, • Creative • Problem-solving framework Focused on making choices to influence something *out* of our control: **Customer behavior** With the goal of optimizing for *effectiveness*. In ways that mean success both for *our clients*, as well as for *our business.*

Starting With Planning Is the Best Way to Sabotage Your Product – Do This Instead

Mike Goitein

It turns out, though, that, if teams’ goals are set in terms of changing customer behavior rather than shipping a set of features, they end up delivering superior results.

Sense and Respond

Jeff Gothelf, Josh Seiden

...catch up on these, and many more highlights