Strategy Literacy Podcast

Why the Hedgehog Is a Strategic Animal The hedgehog is not fast. It is not large. It does not dominate territory. Yet it survives predators far more powerful than itself. Why? Because it does one thing exceptionally well: It converts vulnerability into defense. Where many animals diversify responses, the hedgehog simplifies strategy. This makes it one of the most powerful metaphors in strategic th...

There is a moment in every strategic management course when students understand the words —cost leadership, differentiation, trade-offs—but still struggle to recognize strategy when they see it in practice. They can define “stuck in the middle,” yet fail to diagnose it in real firms. That gap between knowing and judging is where strategy education often stalls. To address this, I began experimenti...

Most people believe Walmart wins because it’s cheap. That’s wrong. Low prices are not Walmart’s strategy. They are the visible outcome of something much deeper—and much harder to copy. If beating Walmart were simply about lowering prices, someone would have done it by now. They haven’t. And Walmart’s own 10-Ks quietly explain why. Walmart Doesn’t Compete on Price. It Competes on Cost. Walmart repe...

Most strategy discussions talk about why customers choose a product. Far fewer talk about why they stay . This episode is about switching costs —the often invisible forces that make it hard to move away from a product, platform, or system, even when alternatives exist. Not just money. But time. Learning. Habit. Coordination. Effort. Switching Costs Are Quiet—but Powerful At the beginning, switchin...

When we hear the word strategy , we usually think of boardrooms, executives, and complex business decisions. Charts. Frameworks. Competitive analysis. But at its core, strategy is much simpler than that. Strategy is about thinking before acting .It’s about making choices , focusing , working with others , and understanding consequences . And kids do all of these things—every single day. So the rea...

We usually teach strategy visually. Frameworks on slides. Matrices on whiteboards. Cases printed in black and white. But strategy itself is not quiet. It is pressure. It is tension. It is power pushing and pulling long before results show up in financial statements. That realization led me to a simple question: What if students could hear strategy—before they analyze it? Why Porter’s Five Forces L...

1. The Strategic Question Disney is one of the most powerful creative and entertainment companies in the world. But scale can dull entrepreneurial thinking. The question this week is simple: Is Disney still directing managerial attention toward new opportunities —or has it shifted into a primarily defensive posture? 2. Firm Snapshot Company: The Walt Disney Company Core Businesses: Media networks,...

In recent issues, we have examined how strategy fails quietly: through ignored trade-offs, distorted judgment, missed signals, and fragile designs. But even well-designed strategies face a final test: What happens when others react? Strategy does not unfold in isolation. Every strategic move changes the environment—and invites a response. This is where many strategies unravel. Why Strategy Is an I...

For decades, strategy was taught as a discipline of foresight. If managers could analyze better, forecast more accurately, and optimize faster, they could outthink competitors. Strategy, in that world, was largely an analytical problem. That assumption no longer holds. Today, machines can analyze more variables than any executive team. They can simulate futures, rank options, and identify statisti...

Across multiple years of Form 10-K filings, 3M consistently describes its strategy in familiar terms: 3M applies science in collaborative ways to improve lives daily. We leverage our science-based innovation platforms, global capabilities, and operational excellence to drive long-term value creation. This language— science-based platforms , innovation , operational excellence , long-term value —ap...

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