Strategy Literacy Podcast

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit strategyliteracy.substack.com/subscribe

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit strategyliteracy.substack.com/subscribe

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit strategyliteracy.substack.com/subscribe

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit strategyliteracy.substack.com/subscribe

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit strategyliteracy.substack.com/subscribe

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit strategyliteracy.substack.com/subscribe

Every day, in conference rooms around the world, something very familiar happens. Teams gather. Coffee is poured. Whiteboards are filled. Strengths. Weaknesses. Opportunities. Threats. It feels productive. Structured. Strategic. And then… nothing happens. No decisions are made. No direction is set. No real strategy emerges. This is the paradox of SWOT analysis: one of the most widely used tools in...

There are universities that educate. There are universities that train. And then there are universities that accelerate. Stanford belongs to the third category. At first glance, Stanford looks like another elite institution—prestigious, selective, and globally recognized. For students, it represents possibility. For parents, it represents opportunity. But for strategists, Stanford is not just a pl...

MIT is not just a university—it’s one of the most powerful innovation systems in the world. In this video, we break down what strategists really see when they look at MIT. Unlike traditional institutions, MIT is built around one core idea: solving real-world problems. But here’s the key question: Is MIT just about technology… or is it a completely different kind of strategy? Whether you are a stud...

Harvard is not just a university—it’s one of the most powerful strategic systems in the world. In this video, we break down what strategists really see when they look at Harvard. Beyond rankings, prestige, and admissions rates, Harvard represents something deeper: a system built on signaling, networks, and long-term brand power. But here’s the key question: 👉 Is Harvard truly worth it… or is it j...

Core Idea in One Sentence Zhang, X., Tong, S., Luo, X., Lin, Z., & Li, J. (2026), AI orchestrator: How recommendation algorithms shape complementor strategy and market equality, Strategic Management Journal. AI recommendation algorithms are not just tools for matching users and products—they function as strategic orchestration mechanisms that reshape how firms compete, what they offer, and who ult...

Research Article: “Knowledge Bridging: How Acquirers Leverage the Knowledge of Their Targets’ Prior Alliance Partners” Journal: Academy of Management Journal (2026) Authors: Jens-Christian Friedmann, Korcan Kavusan Core Idea in One Sentence: Acquisitions do more than transfer capabilities—they create invisible bridges to external knowledge networks, allowing firms to access and utilize knowledge f...

Research Article: “Unlocking Novel Knowledge Recombinations: The Effect of Artificial Intelligence on Inventive Activity” Journal: Strategic Management Journal (2026) Authors: Xinying Qu, J. P. Eggers, M. V. Shyam Kumar Core Idea in One Sentence: Artificial intelligence does more than accelerate innovation—it changes how innovation happens by enabling connections between previously unrelated techn...

For decades, strategy scholars studied companies such as Amazon, Apple, or Netflix to understand competitive advantage. Yet the digital economy has introduced a new kind of strategic actor: the individual creator who operates like a high-growth firm . Few examples illustrate this transformation more clearly than MrBeast. What appears to be entertainment is in fact a sophisticated system of experim...

In a world obsessed with speed, constant innovation, and rapid execution, the sloth represents a radically different strategic philosophy. Sloths move slowly, deliberately, and with remarkable efficiency. At first glance, their behavior may appear lazy or ineffective. Yet in reality, the sloth has survived for millions of years by mastering one powerful strategic principle: energy optimization . T...

Article: Collision in the Boardroom: Director Skill Interdependence and Corporate Entrepreneurship in Technology-Intensive Firms Journal: Strategic Management Journal (2026) Authors: Stevo Pavićević, Thomas Keil, Shaker A. Zahra Core Idea in One Sentence: The strategic impact of board members does not depend only on their individual skills—what matters more is how their expertise interacts with th...

In traditional business thinking, strategic management was often viewed as a structured, periodic process. Managers analyzed the environment, formulated a plan, implemented it, and then reviewed performance once or twice a year. Strategy was something you set . But in today’s AI-driven economy, that mindset is no longer sufficient. Strategic management in the AI world is best understood as a conti...

The hippopotamus looks slow. Almost lazy. Half asleep in muddy water. But here’s what most people don’t realize: * Hippos kill more humans in Africa than lions. * They can run faster than most people. * They are intensely territorial. * They conserve energy all day. * They travel miles at night to feed. The hippo is not passive. It is selective. And that’s strategic. 1️⃣ The Hippo Stays Submerged...

There has never been a time in history when thinking strategically mattered more — and paradoxically — when humans risked doing less of it. We are entering an era where artificial intelligence can analyze markets, predict trends, generate business plans, write marketing campaigns, and even simulate competitive scenarios in seconds. The temptation is obvious: Why think… when AI can think for you? B...

When people hear the word strategist , the imagination usually travels upward — toward CEOs in boardrooms, generals in war rooms, or political leaders shaping national agendas. Strategy feels elevated, reserved, almost exclusive. It sounds like the language of power. But this perception hides a deeper truth. A strategist is not defined by title. Not by hierarchy. Not even by authority. A strategis...

The Crocodile Doesn’t Chase. It Waits. In the animal kingdom, speed often gets the spotlight. Cheetahs sprint. Falcons dive. Sharks glide endlessly. But the crocodile? It wins by doing less — but doing it perfectly. It is one of the oldest surviving predators on Earth, largely unchanged for over 200 million years. Not because it evolved constantly… …but because its strategy already worked. For str...

Most strategy discussions about Amazon revolve around scale. Bigger warehouses. More Prime members. More cloud revenue. But scale is not the real story. Amazon’s deeper strategy is substitution. It doesn’t just grow markets. It replaces the actors inside them. Retailers. Publishers. Logistics firms. Advertisers. Cloud providers. Even content licensors. Amazon doesn’t compete within systems. It red...

Everyone thinks the story is over. Technology won. E-commerce won. Digital crushed physical retail. And in that story, Amazon stands as the inevitable victor — the company that redefined how the world shops, ships, and subscribes. So the question sounds almost absurd: If Amazon dominates retail innovation… why hasn’t it beaten Walmart? The answer reveals one of the most powerful lessons in modern...

📡 Strategic Signal Some cities grow. Others design how they grow. Barcelona is not competing to be the largest, richest, or tallest city in Europe. It competes to be the most distinctive — architecturally, culturally, emotionally. And that distinction has become its strategy engine. ❗ Why This Matters Now We are living in an age of convergence: * Cities look alike * Skylines look alike * Malls l...

📡 Strategic Signal Some cities connect markets. Istanbul connects worlds. It is not positioned as East or West — but as the bridge that monetizes both. And that geographic duality has shaped its economic, political, cultural, and strategic identity for centuries. ❗ Why This Matters Now Modern organizations operate in multi-system environments: * Global vs local * Tradition vs innovation * East v...