GaryGagliardi's blog

Seven Rules for Republican Challengers

Submitted by GaryGagliardi on

Recently I responded to a thank-you letter from a local candidate for Congress, James Watkins, running against an long-time Democratic incumbent, Jay Inslee, by offering some specific election advice. This advice applies to all challengers to political incumbents, especially in areas that are traditionally heavily Democratic, such as the Seattle are.

A Question about President Obama's Political Position

Submitted by GaryGagliardi on

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.

Obama and the Wisdom of Crowds

Submitted by GaryGagliardi on

A reader writes:

You have mentioned "the wisdom of the crowd" as the underlying mechanism for why group decisions and democracies normally work better. Aggregate decisions that are freely made give better outcomes to more people. How was this the case in Obama's election? At the time, and even now, I was and still am unable to see how electing Obama was a benefit for the majority of Americans.

Can you shed light on this?

Prospect Theory: A Logical Basis for "Illogical" Behavior

Submitted by GaryGagliardi on

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.

Newt Gingrich: Did he sink his chances at the Republican nomination?

Submitted by GaryGagliardi on

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.

Obama's War on FOX News: Misunderstanding the Rules of Scale

Submitted by GaryGagliardi on

Many strategic principles work only in specific relationships of size. What works fine for David's attacking Golliath fails completely when Goliath tries it against David. A small organization works against a larger rival differently than a large organization works against smaller rivals (3.4.2 Scale Limitations). One set of methods grows organizations, a very different set keeps them on top. A whole set of classic errors come from a misunderstanding of scale.

A question about depending on someone who isn't moving

Submitted by GaryGagliardi on

A SOSI Member writes:

I am having a strategy problem. I have found a man who could bring considerable resources to my biz in terms of money and ideas. He was very enthus about working with me but now it seems like he has stalled. Nothing is moving forward and I am starting to think he may have his hands too full to worry about me. The question is why do I always find myself depending from someone else performing and if I don't get the result expected I get ridden with anxiety. Can you point me towards an article that can help me?

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