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Focused Ambition

Strategy is about amplifying the efforts of the organization to pursue an ambitious objective. In order to do so, we have to make the hard black and white decisions that clear the path for total commitment. In far too many organizations, there is a belief that by somehow dividing or spreading our efforts, we are reducing our risks. It is just the opposite.

Allowing too many priorities to flourish, allowing too many executives or departments to put their agendas first, is precisely what starves the “mission critical” priorities of the oxygen they need to thrive and survive. As a result, the diffusion of effort and focus increases the risk of failure or suboptimal performance, because the full force and weight of effort is ...

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