How do we elect such poor decision-makers to office? As anyone who studies our warrior's rules at this site knows, politicians are our most fertile source of examples of defective strategy. This fact raises the question: how do these people get elected to office in the first place?

A reader writes:

Kindly advise if there is a standard generic Strategy Preparation Model that can be used for guidance to develop/ establish a new strategy.

A reader writes:

Gary - How would you analyse President Obama's current position in terms of Sun Tzu's classic five-point framework. Thank you.

Mission: Unclear and growing less so in every area.

Climate: Man-made global cooling.

Ground: Shrinking quickly as support melts in the middle and on the left.

Command: Blame game instead of decision making.

Methods: Both untrained and undisciplined.

Prospect theory arises out research showing that people tend to take smaller risks in exploring opportunities and larger risk in defending against losses. Prospect theory says that people are risk adverse in pursuing opportunities while risk seeking in defending against losses. While researchers describe this behavior irrational, it does have a rational basis as a basic instinct for good strategy.

Decisions that seem small at the time can have a big impact on stratetic position. One of the most fundamental principles of Sun Tzu's strategy is that we must adjust to changes in climate. We cannot fight the environment, we must adapt to it. Strategies that refuse to consider what is changing, are always doomed to fail.