The Military Metaphor in Strategy

Flashcards reviewing the relevance of the military metaphor in modern business strategy.

What is the essay's main argument regarding the military metaphor?

The central claim is that the military metaphor now hinders rather than helps strategic thinking.

How has the definition of strategic capability changed in the 21st century?

Strategic capability is increasingly defined by adaptability rather than control.

What does VUCA stand for?

Volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity.

According to the lecture, how should markets and industries be viewed in the 21st century?

Markets and industries function more like ecosystems than battlegrounds.

What behavior does the military metaphor encourage in business?

Encourages destructive behavior instead of symbiotic innovation.

What does strategy require in the 21st century?

Strategy today requires nurturing ecosystems, not defeating opponents.

According to Clausewitz, what conditions are strategic decisions often made under?

Strategic decisions are made under pressure with incomplete information and unpredictable consequences.

What ideas does the military metaphor promote?

Promotes control, certainty, and linearity.

What are better metaphors for strategy than the military metaphor?

Navigation in turbulent seas or gardening in a living system.

How do organizations operate in a nonlinear system?

Small changes can have outsized effects, feedback loops abound, and outcomes are often emergent rather than planned.

What does the military metaphor foster?

It fosters a sense of predictability and control in a world that demands experimentation and learning.

To whom are companies increasingly held accountable?

Companies are held accountable not only to shareholders but to a broader set of stakeholders, including employees, communities, and the environment.

What is the language of warfare at odds with?

The language of warfare is at odds with the principles of corporate social responsibility, environmental stewardship, and long-term allocation.

Why does the military metaphor persist?

It is seductive in its clarity and simplifies complexity into good guys and bad guys, wins and losses.

What does continuing to use the military metaphor prevent organizations from doing?

Adopting more fitting ways of thinking about strategy such as complexity theory, system thinking, and design thinking.

What is the essay's conclusion about the usefulness of the military metaphor?

The military metaphor is useful only in a narrow, outdated sense, and its continued use does more harm than good.

What should new metaphors for strategy reflect?

Complexity, cooperation, sustainability, and ethical responsibility.