#0058: Stratetudes
Braingasm
It’s a well known trope in strategy that it is as much about what you do not do as it about what you do. The point is simply that strategy is about making decisions that have consequences. If there are no consequences to the strategy, it’s not much of a strategy.
One thing I have noticed in strategy conversations is what I call “stratetudes”. If it isn’t obvious, this is a neologism of strategy and platitude, and these things are anti-patterns.
For a strategy to be effective, it’s essential that it’s counterpoint also be a valid strategic orientation. So for example, “we value our customers” is not a strategic statement because no-one in their right mind would have the strategy “we DO NOT value our customers”.
My experience is that this applies at the highest levels of corporate strategy just as effectively as it does in start-up teams or ventures. Make sure that your strategic positioning has a valid counterpoint, and that it’s credible that someone would actually have the counterpoint as their strategy.
If not, your strategy isn’t a strategy at all. It’s a just a platitude.
Newsgasm
It’s often good advice to watch what large players do rather than what they say, and so take that into consideration here: JP Morgan’s Crypto Executive Summary. Note that I couldn’t find an official source for this, so caveat emptor. #bitcoin #blockchain #cryptocurrencies
This tweet is the best ICO gag I’ve seen this year. #humor #ico #2018
With a quote like this “almost everything you read about the blockchain is wrong”, this article on how blockchain might change the business world is well worth a read. #bitcoin #blockchain #cryptocurrencies #decentralisation
It’s hard to know what to think about blockchain technology, so let me make it even more difficult by juxtaposing equally interesting bull and bear cases for you. The Bear Case for Crypto, part1, part2 and part 3, and part 4. Versus: What you may not understand about crypto’s millionaires. I’m still not convinced by many (not all) of the blockchain use cases, particularly anything that still requires a trusted-third-party to work. However, the long-game of decentralisation feels to me a lot like what we saw in the mid 1990s when the web first kicked off. So I remain open-minded. #bitcoin #blockchain #cryptocurrencies #decentralisation
Speaking of bears, the Apple bears are out in force again. Apple has responded with an (internal) announcement of changes to their annual software update process. Steven Sinofski (ex-Microsoft) has given his view in an epic Tweetstorm on where Apple is up to, and where it should be heading. #apple #software #ios #macos #quality
As someone who doesn’t really get Farcebook and has never had an account (because the utility/privacy tradeoff just isn’t there for me), this story comes as no surprise: German court rules Facebook use of personal data illegal. The real question is: will anything come of this decision? There’s going to be a lot of this kind of activity once GDPR starts to wash thru the European economy. #gdpr #privacy #data
Sir Tim Berners-Les has a second crack at inventing the future: Solid. It’s a little unclear precisely what TBL is up to here, but according to the site “Solid (derived from “social linked data”) is a proposed set of conventions and tools for building decentralized social applications based on Linked Data principles.” I wonder what the implications for GDPR compliance are if user data ends up decentralised? #gdpr #privacy #data #decentralisation
From the we-are-all-going-to-be-slaves-to-machines files comes Boston Dynamics’ latest uncanny valley inducing, door opening robo-dog. Door-opening robots have come a long way since this epic robot door-opening failure compilation from 2015. #robots #skynet #progress
Pseudoscience watch: raw water. The cynicism of the cranks who put this stuff out never ceases to amaze me. #pseudoscience #crank
Visualisations of complex domains can be wonderful to look at when executed properly. This Timeline of Emerging Science and Technology is a great spin on the idea of trying to predict what the future might look like. #infographic #visualisation #future
If you go to the trouble of bio-hacking your travel card into your hand, what do you do if the card gets cancelled? Take the Government to court, of course. #biohacking
You wouldn’t need to bio-hack your Opal card in this case: Germany considers free public transport in fight to banish air pollution. #transport
Only in Australia
Who knew that tiger snakes could also slither along high-wires? #onlyinaustralia
Also, the rest of the world thinks Australian politicians are complete idiots. They’re correct. #onlyinaustralia
Regards,
M@
