How I Do Strategy - Part Two

Strategy isn't a formula; it's a practiced heuristic. Martin breaks down his third step, Imagine Possibility Portraits, into three habits: remembering strategy is a heuristic, targeting a portrait-style output, and searching along analogy, trade-off, and anomaly vectors. He argues that a visual portrait of choices forces alignment and passes the can't/won't test, making it hard for competitors to copy.

He illustrates each vector with concrete cases: Dyson's cyclone analogy, the Rotman teaching-research trade-off solved by having professors teach their research, and the anomaly that top firms rarely use strategy consultants, which led Monitor to teach strategy instead of doing it. These examples show how purposeful analogies, integrative thinking, and spotting anomalies generate viable strategic options.

The final step, Make, Enforce, Adjust, stresses that choosing a portrait is a decision, enforcing it prevents drift, and adjusting it with principle keeps the strategy alive. Martin's stories from Skoll, Tennis Canada, and Monitor demonstrate how disciplined enforcement and timely adjustment protect strategic intent. For leaders, the piece offers a concrete mental model to generate, lock-in, and evolve strategy without getting lost in endless idea lists.