The 5C Strategy Framework: Why Most Companies Suck at Strategy

Most companies think they have a strategy, but it's often a cheap, colored horseradish masquerading as real wasabi. The article argues that without a genuine strategy you're stuck with a façade that never moves the needle. To fix that, the author proposes the 5C Strategy Framework - Challenge, Constraints, Concessions, Courage, and Clarity - as a way to surface the real work behind strategic decisions.

The framework is illustrated with the story of Dunstan Low, who tried to sell a house by raffling it off with $2 tickets. The Challenge was selling the house at a reasonable price. He introduced a Constraint - a raffle that had to look like a game of skill to avoid a gambling license. Those constraints forced Concessions, such as losing control over the outcome and risking a loss. Dunstan's willingness to accept those concessions demonstrated Courage, which gave him the Clarity to focus on selling tickets at scale and ultimately rake in a $900,000 price.

Real-world examples reinforce the pattern. Nintendo framed the Challenge of competing with powerful consoles, constrained itself to fun and affordable hardware, and accepted the concession of lower graphics performance, showing Courage that resulted in the Wii's market success. Nespresso faced a patent expiry Challenge, constrained itself to a luxury brand image, and accepted the concession of a smaller market, leading to a premium positioning. Netflix chose to drop its DVD revenue stream (Challenge of a dying model), constrained itself to streaming, and accepted the short-term loss that later unlocked massive growth.

For technical leaders the takeaway is practical: define the real Challenge, deliberately add Constraints that force trade-offs, own the Concessions, summon the Courage to act, and you'll gain the Clarity needed to focus. Ignoring any of these steps leaves you with a "wasabi" strategy that looks like a plan but never delivers value.