T. E. Lawrence

Strategic Concepts & Mechanics

Strategic ManeuverShape the Market Before You Enter It

Mental ModelTrust Is the Bandwidth of Implicit Communication

Structural VulnerabilityBad News Is the Only Useful Intelligence

Implementation TacticSchwerpunkt Over Vision Statement

Strategic PatternAmbiguity Outperforms Deception

Strategic ManeuverEngage with the Expected, Win with the Surprise

Decision FrameworkBe the Customer Literally

Mental ModelReorientation Speed Beats Execution Speed

Identity & CultureGardens Not Machines

Operating PrincipleDirections Beat Goals

Competitive AdvantageGroup Feeling as the Ruling Factor

Strategic ManeuverReconnaissance Pull Over Central Planning

Strategic ManeuverDelight Is the Ch'i of Business

Implementation TacticFingerspitzengefühl Through Decades, Not Seminars

Mental ModelIf You Can Be Modeled, You Have No Strategy

Strategic PatternToyota as Maneuver Warfare in Manufacturing

Mental ModelFog Grows Inside the Slower Organization

Implementation TacticPromote the Doers, Remove the Resisters — One Night

Competitive AdvantageSnowmobile Building as Innovation

Operating PrincipleOrientation as the Schwerpunkt

Implementation TacticThe Mission Contract Replaces Over-Control

Signature MoveCrisis as Finest Hour Opportunity

Signature MoveNever Surrender Absolutism

Operating PrincipleMany Ideas Generate Few Good Ones

Cornerstone MoveWords as Weapons Before Bullets

Decision FrameworkIntense Simplicities From Complexity

Signature MoveSelf-Deprecating Humor as Disarmament

Identity & CultureDemocracy Despite Its Flaws

Risk DoctrineFighting Nations Rise Again

Cornerstone MoveSimplify Self Into Symbol

Signature MoveMemorized Speech as Spontaneous Performance

Strategic PatternShort Words Over Long Ones

Operating PrincipleAccountability Over Advisory Layers

Primary Evidence

"We had nothing material to lose,” wrote T. E. Lawrence (of Arabia) in Seven Pillars of Wisdom, “so our best line was to defend nothing and to shoot nothing. Our cards were speed and time, not hitting power.” This is an amazing statement, a warrior throwing down his weapon and controlling the enemy purely by what strategists call “shaping his concept of the conflict.”"

Source:Certain to Win

"history? Churchill recognized that the public needs to see its heroes clearly. “One of the most necessary features of a public man’s equipment,” Churchill noted, “is some distinctive mark which everyone learns to look for and to recognize.” Like Hitler’s toothbrush mustache, Montgomery’s beret, or T. E. Lawrence’s Arab robes, Churchill used his V sign, his cigars, his champagne and whiskey to blaze himself on the public mind. Just as his lisp and his idiosyncratic pronunciation made his voice identifiable on the radio, his distinctive appearance made him easy to recognize."

Source:Forty Ways to Look at Winston Churchill

Appears In Volumes

Certain to Win Forty Ways to Look at Winston Churchill