TABLE OF CONTENTS The greatest help in setting a strategy is a hefty slice of cynicism and the openness of mind to re-examine cherished beliefs.
John Harvey-Jones, Making it Happen (Collins, 1988)
A strategist does not possess superhuman powers. A strategist is at the mercy of the vicissitudes of life just as much as any other mere mortal. The essence of a good strategist though is in their ability to cope with these vagaries by anticipating them and producing a plan that gives them a much higher probability of defying the odds, especially when compared to those who just take life as it comes. A strategist has to take a risk, but does not have to gamble. An inveterate gambler may have their own system for playing at the roulette table but they can no more influence where the ball drops than they can change the weather.
In fact the weather provides a very simple illustration of the distinction between a strategist and someone who just copes with whatever they have to cope with. Weather forecasters have a whole armoury of techniques and technology to help them predict weather patterns. However, the further into the future they forecast, the more room for error and inaccuracy. At some point into the future, say more than three months, the forecast will, in effect, have...
