In Search of the Secret of Success E-Book

Arno Ritter

• Herausgeber: BoD - Books on Demand
• Kategorie: Fachliteratur
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2024

Seitenzahl: 231

Beschreibung

What constitutes success, what contributes to success and how do we become successful in business and management? And then how do we stay successful? In this book we are intending to give some short answers, guidelines and models based on personal experience and developments such as the Strategic Control Loop, Triple-S-Virtues for Success and Strategic Success Factors. Furthermore, we want to share key insights of experts on the subject of success we consider to be essential, such as Sunzi, Musashi, Machiavelli, Clausewitz, Moltke or Emperor Marcus Aurelius, management gurus like Peter Drucker, Jim Collins, Robert Grant, Henry Mintzberg, Gary Hamel and C. K. Prahalad, coaches and consultants like Stephen Covey, Gay Hendricks or Mahan Khalsa, authors like Daniel Pink or Harro von Senger and many others. Therefore, let us dive into evolution, into topics such as personal and corporate success, leadership, innovation, entrepreneurship, career, strategic success, dealing with stratagems and implementation. Look at the ideas for success presented in this book like you would look at a buffet: choose what is best for you! In a nutshell: Become successful successfully!

Leseprobe

Foreword

Success is a topic we have been dealing with for as long as we can remember. We – and you, we assume – have intuitively done a lot of things right, especially, since we recognized some of our success factors confirmed in real life situations. However, there is always something more to learn. Hence, why we cannot avoid a more or less scientific examination of the subject of success. In 2021, we began writing a business novel about "success" inspired somewhat by the movie comedy "The Secret of My Succe$s" starring Michael J. Fox (1987). During our analysis and writing progress, we then also decided to create a short management summary in English, as we are also aware that many people do not have enough time to even read a bulky volume. We present you a short excerpt and some key points from our main book on success (Ritter 2022). We will address questions like "What constitutes success, what contributes to success, or how do we become successful? And then how do we stay successful?" In a nutshell: how to be successful successfully? Our focus here is on business and management.

It goes without saying that there cannot be only one opinion or answer to the same question. Moreover, there is an almost unmanageable abundance of ideas, theories, solutions, publications and convictions on the subject of success – for centuries already. As authors, we have therefore made a selective choice and decided to include some of the old masters we consider to be essential, such as Sunzi, Musashi, Machiavelli, Clausewitz, Moltke or Emperor Marcus Aurelius, "management gurus" like Peter Drucker, Jim Collins, Robert Grant, Henry Mintzberg, Gary Hamel and C. K. Prahalad, coaches and consultants like Stephen Covey, Gay Hendricks or Mahan Khalsa, historians like Jörg Nagler or Yuval Noah Harari, scientists like Victor Frankl, authors like Douglas and Scott Adams, Wolfgang Schur and Günter Weick, Daniel Pink, Harro von Senger and many others. Furthermore, we will share our own insights, concepts and approaches for success. We will touch on a wide variety of areas and fields. Therefore, let us dive into evolution and human history, into topics such as personal and corporate success, leadership, innovation, entrepreneurship, career, strategic success, dealing with stratagems (i.e., lists) and implementation. We have tried – whenever possible – to quote the English originals; some of our sources were available to us in German translation or in the German original. In these cases, we either tried to find English translations or we translated the texts ourselves and with the help of Aurelia.

Since we want to focus on the essentials in this book, we do not share details. Moreover, we don’t view success as a mathematical science (probability does). Henry Mintzberg rightly points out that there is not one best organization or way to define a strategy (successfully). Look at the ideas for success presented in this book like you would look at a buffet: choose what is best for you! Interestingly enough, this book is an experiment for us, as we wrote it as father and son, with the goal of trying out some of the ideas right away as part of our book project and in everyday life. We hope you enjoy reading it and discover some useful ideas. We would like to thank all our family members, especially Aurelia (our designer, editor and translator), friends, study and business colleagues and customer partners for the many interesting discussions and support, without whom this work would not have been possible.

Arno Ritter and Roderick Ritter ([email protected])

In memory of Oma Henny and Sandrine

TABLE OF CONTENTS

List of Abbreviations

Preface

Analysis

Success Through Evolution

Personal Success

Career and Success

Success Through the Application of Stratagems

Consulting Success

Leadership Success

Business and Management Success

Success Through Innovation and Entrepreneurship

Strategic Success in War and Business

Implementing Business and Management Success

Success Factors in Business and Management

Comments and Conclusions

Last Words

Glossary

References

Movie and Song Directory

Internet Link Directory

List of Abbreviations

aka

also known as

BANWAD

Beyond Agile, New Work And Digitalization (our concept to meet the challenges of the future, see Glossary and Ritter 2021)

B.C.

Before Christ

BCI

Business Concept Innovation(s)

BHAG

Big Hairy Audacious Goals (see Collins and Porras 2004 and Collins 2020)

CEO

Chief Executive Officer

cf

Confer

DevOps

Integrated process improvement approach for software development, operations and quality

GmbH

Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung (i.e., limited liability company / private limited company)

HMS

His or Her Majesty’s Ship

HR(M)

Human Resources (Management)

IQ

Intelligence quotient

IT

Information Technology

KPI

Key Performance Indicator

MBA

Master of Business Administration

MES

Manufacturing Execution System(s)

N/A

Not applicable

No.

Number

NPV

Net Present Value (accounting method, see Glossary)

OECD

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

ORDER

Opportunity, Resources, Decision Process, Exact Solution, Relationship (i.e., a consulting principle according to Khalsa)

PEST

Political, Economic, Social & Technological factors analysis

PESTEL

Analysis of Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Ecological / Environmental and Legal Factors (i.e., an extension of PEST)

PISA

Programme for International Student Assessment

R&D

Research and Development

SMART

Specific – Measurable – Accepted – Realistic – Timely (goals)

Stra-Wach

Strategemische Wachsamkeit (i.e., stratagemic vigilance, see Senger 2016a)

SWOT

Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (analysis)

TPS

Toyota Production System

TQM

Total Quality Management

TUDAPOL

Think Unlimited, Develop Agile, Produce and Operate Lean (our holistic principle for innovation, development and operation, see pages

→-→

and Ritter 2020)

US / U.S.

The United States

VDI

Verein Deutscher Ingenieure (i.e., The Association of German Engineers)

VIP

Very important person

3D

Three-dimensional

4 Ps

Marketing-Mix: Product, Price, Promotion, Place (see also 7 Ps)

5 Ss

Seiri (Sifting) / Seiton (Sorting) / Seiso (Sweeping clean) / Seiketsu (Spic and Span) / Shitsuke (Sustain); i.e., a (Japanese) workplace organization method (lean manufacturing)

6 Rs

6 Rs of logistics: RIGHT quantity, object, place, time, quality and cost

7 Ps

Marketing Mix: 4 Ps + Physical Evidence, Process and People

Preface

"(1) Nothing happens to anyone that he cannot bear by nature. (2) The same happens to another (like you), and yet he remains calm and unharmed, either because he does not know that it has happened to him, or because he wants to prove his strength of character. (3) But it would be bad if ignorance and complacency were stronger than insight" (Marcus Aurelius in his Self-reflections – Fifth Book, 18, freely translated).

"There is no 'one best way' to create strategy, nor is there 'one best form' of organization" (Mintzberg et al. 1998).

"Success: the fact that you have achieved something that you want and have been trying to do or get"; https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/success (Status: August 2024).

When reading a management book that contains compelling concepts or ideas, it is a good approach to consider criticisms and drawbacks. Often, the main criticism is that the methods, ideas, concepts and models presented are too simplistic (e.g., think of SWOT-analysis, 4 Ps or 6 Rs).

What you think success looks like

What success actually looks like

Figure: Success according to Freeman 2019

And we can assume that this is absolutely true – for good reasons. To be clear: management is not a mathematical science (we exclude Six Sigma at this point). In physics or electrical engineering, for example, one can model simple linear, time-invariant, causal physical systems by linear differential equations or apply the Laplace transformation (Föllinger 1990), which describe reality sufficiently enough in these particular cases. If necessary, one can always adjust the granularity or order of the models (e.g., PEST becomes PESTEL or 4 Ps become 7 Ps in marketing) (Jobber 2001).

However, management is rather different compared to science and technology, because we humans often act quite irrationally, at least we do not always behave in a causal, linear or time-invariant way. Against this background, management approaches and their limitations need to be considered critically. Management guru Henry Mintzberg rightly emphasizes that there is no universal best organization or strategy (Mintzberg et al. 1998). From this we can deduce that indeed different approaches can lead us to success if we are aware of their limitations. Furthermore, we can learn from concepts and ideas (Ritter 2022). And we need to learn (i.e., lifelong learning), as Peter F. Drucker calls for (Drucker 2014a).

It’s a similar story with leadership. There is not one true style. Our style should always be and appear authentic. However, as long as we act in accordance with law and order, we could do virtually anything. But we must always be able to live with the consequences of our actions. This is how we should also look at the success factors and ideas in this book. They must suit us (see later also strategic fit according to Grant 2002 and Glossary). In any case, we must be prepared to work carefully on the implementation of our ideas, to learn and to draw the right consequences and conclusions.

When we talk about success, we have to keep in mind that there are different types of success: personal success, leadership success, career success, success as an entrepreneur and success as a company, strategic success, and so on. In this book, we will discuss a number of these types of success, focusing on the areas of business and management. However, we will not go into depth. In the following, we will refer to the original sources and our business novel (Ritter 2022). Our claim here is to list the essential aspects in the sense of a collection of formulas and to cite a few powerful quotes. The concepts and ideas presented here are primarily intended to serve as suggestions. We must find out for ourselves which of them are suitable for us personally – including our organizations – and where they can be usefully applied, and where their possible limits lie. This is not a new insight, see "Book of Five Rings" (Musashi 2021) and chapter "Strategic Success in War and Business", and it always remains our responsibility. Furthermore:

"(1) Do not feel disgusted, do not lose heart, and do not despair if you do not always succeed in realizing all your right intentions; rather, after failures, return to your resolutions and be satisfied if the majority of your actions are reasonably humane, and love what you have returned to; ..." (Marcus Aurelius in his Self-Reflections – Fifth Book, 9 (1), freely translated).

In this book we present and follow some concepts and ideas that we have developed over the last years. We will refer to them and use them as a guide and as a structure for the content of this book:

Criteria for successful strategies:

our basic success factors for strategies as derived from our personal experience and the works of Clausewitz, Grant, and Sunzi (Clausewitz 2003, Grant 2002, Machiavelli 2001, Sunzi 2001, Ritter 2013, 2020 and 2021).

Basic strategy concept:

our strategy concept based on ideas such as lean management, innovation management, entrepreneurship, Process and Design School (Drucker 2014a, Grant 2002, Hamel and Prahalad 1997, Mintzberg et al. 1998, Porter 1999, The Lean Enterprise Institute 2003, Ritter 2013 and 2020).

Figure: Criteria for successful strategies (as success factors) according to Ritter (2013)

Figure: Basic strategy concept (for business success) according to Ritter (2013 and 2020)

You will notice that some publications and translations differ a bit from each other. So, when we refer to a German translation or a German source, we decided to translate (or retranslate) it into English. Our intention is to convey the basic ideas, see also References chapter. And as we said, you should find some concepts and ideas in this book that you can benefit from or that interest you; some also might be too complicated or not suitable for you at all. However, you should at least be aware of them. So be careful about evaluating these solutions and particularly when it comes to measuring success.

"When it’s all said and done, what do we measure ourselves by? If Lansky taught me one thing, it’s that there’s only one measure in this world that really matters: We measure ourselves by the eyes of those we love" (Sam Worthington aka David Stone on gangster Meyer Lansky, the so-called "Mob’s Accountant" played by Harvey Keitel in the 2021 film "Lansky" by Eytan Rockaway, freely translated).

Analysis

"(1) First, not arbitrarily and not without purpose. (2) Secondly, direct your striving to nothing but the goal of the common good" (Marcus Aurelius in his Self-Reflections – Twelfth Book, 20, freely translated).

When you start an academic paper or a technical project, you usually start with an analysis of the current state of the art. We decided to do our analysis according to our strategic success factors to better cluster the content, do some interviews, but also take a quick look at Wikipedia. The main criticism of Wikipedia, as we know, is that it is not really an academic or scientific source. Nonetheless, it is at least a good starting point. So, let’s start with some basic insights and definitions.

Hint: If you are in a hurry, you can skip this Analysis chapter as we will discuss our findings and the main concepts in the following chapters. The key sources are listed in the References below. Furthermore, some more complementary explanations are giving in the Glossary below.

Success (Definition)

"Success is the state or condition of meeting a defined range of expectations. It may be viewed as the opposite of failure."

Criteria of Success

"The criteria for success depend on context, and may be relative to a particular observer or belief system. One person might consider a success what another person considers a failure, particularly in cases of direct competition or a zero-sum game. Similarly, the degree of success or failure in a situation may be differently viewed by distinct observers or participants, such that a situation that one considers to be a success, another might consider to be a failure, a qualified success or a neutral situation. For example, a film that is a commercial failure or even a box-office bomb can go on to receive a cult following, with the initial lack of commercial success even lending a cachet of subcultural coolness."

Comment

"It may also be difficult or impossible to ascertain whether a situation meets criteria for success or failure due to ambiguous or ill-defined definition of those criteria. Finding useful and effective

criteria, or heuristics, to judge the failure or success of a situation may itself be a significant task."

The Iceberg of success

"The Iceberg of success is a specific structured model used to explain the unseen workings of an achievement. It compares what people see on the surface, to the inner complicated workings underneath the surface. Success requires hard work and dedication, most of which, people do not see and rather only see the final accomplished product. There can be great costs to success: failure, rejection, sacrifice, disappointment, hard work, dedication etc. However, once achieved, the benefits outweigh the hardships. Whilst it may be easy to assume people are lucky and achieve something by chance, often it is the hidden layers underneath the surface of the iceberg that cause this success. Whilst luck may be a factor, it is certainly not the defining characteristic of someone’s ability to thrive."

In American culture

"DeVitis and Rich link the success to the notion of the American Dream. They observe that '[t]he ideal of success is found in the American Dream which is probably the most potent ideology in American life' and suggest that 'Americans generally believe in achievement, success, and materialism'. Weiss, in his study of success in the American psyche, compares the American view of success with Max Weber’s concept of the Protestant work ethic."

In Biology

"Natural selection is the variation in successful survival and reproduction of individuals due to differences in phenotype. It is a key mechanism of evolution, the change in the heritable traits characteristic of a population over generations. Charles Darwin popularised the term 'natural selection', contrasting it with artificial selection, which in his view is intentional, whereas natural selection is not. As Darwin phrased it in 1859, natural selection is the 'principle by which each slight variation [of a trait], if useful, is preserved'. The concept was simple but powerful: individuals best adapted to their environments are more likely to survive and reproduce. As long as there is some variation between them and that variation is heritable, there will be an inevitable selection of individuals with the most advantageous variations. If the variations are heritable, then differential reproductive success leads to a progressive evolution of particular populations of a species, and populations that evolve to be sufficiently different eventually become different species."

In Education

"A student’s success within an educational system is often expressed by way of grading. Grades may be given as numbers, letters or other symbols. By the year 1884, Mount Holyoke College was evaluating students’ performance on a 100-point or percentage scale and then summarizing those numerical grades by assigning letter grades to numerical ranges. Mount Holyoke assigned letter grades A through E, with E indicating lower than

75% performance. The A–E system spread to Harvard University by 1890. In 1898, Mount Holyoke adjusted the grading system, adding an F grade for failing (and adjusting the ranges corresponding to the other letters). The practice of letter grades spread more broadly in the first decades of the 20th century. By the 1930s, the letter E was dropped from the system, for unclear reasons. Educational systems themselves can be evaluated on how successfully they impart knowledge and skills. For example, the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) is a worldwide study by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) intended to evaluate educational systems by measuring 15-year-old school pupils’ scholastic performance on mathematics, science, and reading. It was first performed in 2000 and then repeated every three years."

In Entrepreneurship

"Malcolm Gladwell’s 2008 book Outliers: The Story of Success suggests that the notion of the self-made man is a myth. Gladwell argues that the success of entrepreneurs including Bill Gates is due to their circumstances, as opposed to their inborn talent."

In Philosophy of Science

"Scientific theories are often deemed successful when they make predictions that are confirmed by experiment. For example, calculations regarding the Big Bang predicted the cosmic microwave background and the relative abundances of chemical elements in deep space (see Big Bang nucleo-synthesis), and observations have borne out these predictions. Scientific theories can also achieve success more indirectly, by suggesting other ideas that turn out correct. For example, Johannes Kepler conceived a model of the solar system based on the Platonic solids. Although this idea was itself incorrect, it motivated him to pursue the work that led to the discoveries now known as Kepler’s laws, which were pivotal in the development of astronomy and physics."

In Probability

"The fields of probability and statistics often study situations where events are labeled as 'successes' or 'failures'. For example, a Bernoulli trial is a random experiment with exactly two possible outcomes, 'success' and 'failure', in which the probability of success is the same every time the experiment is conducted. The concept is named after Jacob Bernoulli, a 17th-century Swiss mathematician, who analyzed them in his Ars Conjectandi (1713). The term 'success' in this sense consists in the result meeting specified conditions, not in any moral judgement. For example, the experiment could be the act of rolling a single die, with the result of rolling a six being declared a 'success' and all other outcomes grouped together under the designation 'failure'. Assuming a fair die, the probability of success would then be 1/6."

Table: Success according to Wikipedia – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Success_(concept) (Status: August 2024)

We conducted a non-representative study based on interviews with some high potentials (e.g., sports champions, winners of competitions in music or research, high performing students and managers). It is not representative to some extent due to the number of interviews and the very individual answers. However, the answers given were discussed with us in a very open atmosphere. Therefore, you can assume that the answers reflect the views of the interviewees relatively well. At the very least, the success factors mentioned are really relevant to them. Some individual success factors were mentioned particularly frequently, such as …

Figure: Individual success factors

We will return to some of the ideas later, see below. However, we have used this list of individual success factors to match them with our academic literature review, see next table. We will come back to the details later (see also next chapters and Glossary or References).

Individual success factors

A

Intelligence & Character

•

Collins:

"Level 5 leadership" •

Dethmer et al.:

"The 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership" •

Drucker and Hendricks:

Focus on own strengths and exploitation of opportunities •

Frankl:

"Man’s Search for Meaning" •

Machiavelli:

Ideology of "virtù" •

Marcus Aurelius:

"Self-Reflections" •

Möbius and Bigge:

The example of Helmuth von Moltke •

Nagler:

The example of Abraham Lincoln •

Schur and Weick:

Creativity, mental flexibility, sense of priorities, decisiveness, readiness for conflict and above all courage •

Senger:

Sensor for lists and kairos

B

Ambition

•

Clausewitz:

"With all your strength" •

Collins:

"Big Hairy Audacious Goals" (BHAG) •

Hamel and Prahalad:

"Strategic stretch" •

Lindenberg:

"Never doubted it" (Album/song) • See also

Lincoln, Machiavelli, Moltke, Musashi and Sunzi

C

Commitment / Engagement

•

Clausewitz:

"With all your strength" •

Collins:

"Big Hairy Audacious Goals" (BHAG) •

Covey:

"7 Habits – Be Proactive" •

Hamel and Prahalad:

"Strategic stretch"

D

Discipline

•

Clausewitz:

Focus •

Collins:

"Culture of discipline" •

Nagler:

Never give up (see Abraham Lincoln) • See also

Musashi and Sunzi

E

Efficiency & Effectiveness

•

Allan:

"Getting Things Done" •

Covey:

"7 Habits – Be Proactive, Begin with the End in Mind, Put First Things First, Think Win/Win, Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood, Synergize, Sharpen the Saw" •

Drucker:

"The Effective Executive" and the "seven virtues of effective leaders" •

Mackenzie:

"The Time Trap" •

Möbius and Bigge:

the example of Moltke •

Nagler:

Lincoln’s "ability to pursue and name goals and visions illusionlessly and pragmatically, and to convey them in language that is as apt and clear as it is impressive" and Lincoln’s "sure sense of the kairos, relevance and assertiveness of substantive concerns at a given moment"

•

Nagler:

Lincoln’s "high competence in conflict management" as well as Lincoln’s striving "never ... to leave anything to chance if he could influence it for himself"

F

Strategic thinking

•

Collins:

"Hedgehog concept" •

Covey:

"7 Habits – Begin with the End in Mind, Put First Things First, Think Win/Win" •

Drucker and Hendricks:

Focus on own strengths and opportunity exploitation •

Grant and Mintzberg:

Design and Process School •

Hendricks:

"Zone of Excellence" and "Zone of Genius" •

Khalsa:

"Helping clients succeed" •

Nagler:

Lincoln’s ability to "pursue goals and visions illusionlessly and pragmatically" • See also

Clausewitz, Machiavelli, Moltke and Sunzi

G

Curiosity & Interest

•

Collins, Drucker, Grant, Hamel, Prahalad and Warnecke:

Innovation as a driver •

De Geus:

Learning as a competitive factor •

Pink:

"Six Senses"

H

Courage & Self-confidence

•

Collins:

"Stockdale paradox" •

Hendricks:

Mastering the "Upper Limit Problem" •

Lindenberg:

"Never doubted it" (Album/song) •

Möbius and Bigge:

the example of Moltke, e.g., imperturbable calm; to "achieve a great purpose, you have to dare to do something" •

Nagler:

Lincoln’s "strong willpower and ability to cope with and overcome blows of fate unbroken"

I

Fortune

•

Frankl:

"Der Mensch vor der Frage nach dem Sinn" and "Man’s Search for Meaning" •

Hendricks:

"Zone of Genius" •

Machiavelli:

"Il Principe" ("Prince") •

Pink:

"Six Senses"

Table: Individual success factors – Consistency and overlap of the different concepts, see also page → and next chapters

In addition, we have used our basic strategy concept to match them with our academic literature review, see next table. We will come back to the details later (see next chapters).

Criterion

Comment (Author: Subject/Term)

1

Establish the capability for change, for flexibility and transformability

•

Darwin:

"Survival of the fittest"; "Gradualism" •

Harari:

"Cognitive", "agricultural" and "scientific revolution" •

Machiavelli:

The lessons of the "Prince" •

Musashi:

Application and (unexpected) alternation of weapons (i.e., methods and tools)

2

Build the capability/capacity to learn

•

De Geus:

"The ability to learn faster than your competitors" •

Machiavelli, Hamel and Prahalad:

The ability to learn (including the ability to unlearn obsolete or obstructive things)

3

Create the capability to innovate

•

Drucker:

"The seven sources of innovation opportunity" •

Grant:

Product, process and strategic innovation •

Hamel:

"Future is something you create, not something that happens to you"; see also "Business Concept Innovation" •

Warnecke:

"Innovation creates future"

4

Reduce (unnecessary) costs

• Agile Management, Continuous Improvement, Gradualism, Financial Management, Zero-defects production, Lean Management and Toyota Production System (see also Neale and McElroy 2004, Ritter 2020 and 2021, The Lean Enterprise Institute 2003, Westkämper 1997) •

Porter:

"Low-cost strategy"

5

Create the capability to enable and improve quality and service

• Agile Management, Continuous Improvement, Gradualism, Financial Management, Lean Management and Toyota Production System (see also Neale and McElroy 2004, Ritter 2020 and 2021, The Lean Enterprise Institute 2003) •

Khalsa:

"Helping clients succeed" and "ORDER-Principle" •

Porter:

"Differentiation strategy"

6

Establish appropriate resources and capabilities

•

Collins:

"Hedgehog concept" •

Grant:

"Resource-based strategies" •

Khalsa:

"ORDER-Principle" •

Porter:

"Differentiation strategy"

7

Establish profit earning potential of resources and capabilities

•

Arnold:

"Value-Action Pentagon Model" •

Collins:

"Hedgehog concept"; "What drives your economic engine?" •

Grant:

"Establish profit earning potential of resources and capabilities" •

Hendricks:

"Zone of Competence", "Zone of Excellence" and "Zone of Genius"

8

Ensure the avoidance of imitation (i.e., to be imitated and to imitate the wrong)

•

Grant:

"Imitation avoidance strategies": "hidden superior performance, acquisition of resources, and acquisition of capabilities and competencies that are immobile or difficult to replace (copy); competitive advantage based on multiple, distributed sources; and deterrence and retaliation" •

Senger:

Development of a sensor for stratagems

9

Enable easy application of your strategy (Think of feasibility)

•

Allen:

"Getting Things Done – Two-minute rule" •

Covey, Collins and Drucker:

Effectiveness •

(Einstein) / Scroggins:

"You have to make things as simple as possible. But not simpler" •

Grant:

"Effective implementation" •

Kalashnikov:

"Everything complicated is unnecessary, everything necessary is simple – just like my automatic rifle" •

Küstenmacher and Seiwert:

"Simplify your life" •

Möbius and Bigge:

Moltke’s "inclination for simplicity" and focus on feasibility; consideration for the personality of the sub-leaders; clear commands and directives; independence of sub-leaders, decisiveness •

Other:

See also Eisenhower-Matrix or Hendricks’ approach to limit oneself to only one main rule (e.g., to solve the "Upper Limit Problem") or to focus on "only" seven habits (Covey)

Table: Consistency and overlap of the different factors of the basic strategy concept (according to Ritter 2013 and 2020), see also page → and next chapters

Furthermore, we have used our list of strategic success factors to match them with our academic literature review, see next table. We will come back to the details later (see next chapters).

Criterion

Comment (Author: Subject/Term)

1

Focus

•

Clausewitz

(Moltke and Sunzi):

Focus

• Collins: "Confront the brutal facts" •

Collins: "Hedgehog concept (the three circles)"

• Covey: "Be Proactive" •

Covey: "Begin with the End in Mind"

•

Covey: "Put First Things First"

• Khalsa: "Helping clients succeed" •

Hendricks: "Zone of Genius"

2

Time advantage

•

Clausewitz, Moltke and Sunzi: Time advantage, acceleration, the right time,

•

maturity

Collins: "First

and

who,

speed

then what" • Covey: "Be Proactive" • Hendricks: "Einstein Time"

3

Bundling / concentration of all forces

•

Clausewitz

(Moltke and Sunzi):

Bundling / concentration of all forces

• Collins: "Confront the brutal facts"