Thinking Strategically In Turbulent Times - An Inside View Of Strategy Making (2005)

In this book, three organizations are examined to see how leadership handles “turbulent times” in terms of evaluating the environment and strategic processes.

I’m really liking how this book was organized. It’s subdivided in such a way that makes it easy to take notes.

HP

During 2005 HP was integrating with Compaq, there was global uncertainty with 9/11 and other global events, and there was an uncertain global economic future. This Compaq merger is how many executives framed their answers and was the most significant internal environmental factor. External factors included:

• Economy: This had a positive spin as it helped the merger since “nobody was buying anything”. The perception also was that buyers overinvested earlier
• Technology: An executive identified the “big data” angle and they also talked of digitization. Things like the widespread acceptance of UNIX and arrival of the PC allowed standardization.
  • “IT graduated from being the CIO’s accountability with a budget that’s expense-driven, to being a capital expenditure.”
• Customer Demand: Simplification and outsourcing
• General Turbulence: According to some, everything is faster and it’s not going to get better. According to others, “I wasn’t working less hard 10 years ago!” or “I’m just wondering if maybe it’s a point of view people have.” One thinks things have slowed down since the dotcom era.
• Alignment: It’s important to understanding the overarching goals and talk to team members and customers. People are attracted to a common vision, and shifting resources can make it happen. It requires internal and external knowledge as well as relationships, plus an understanding of what customers need and want.
• Centralized vs Decentralized Organization: HP was historically a decentralized organization with independent divisions. When getting into the systems business, this broke down as it required more integration.
• Planning Cycle: Before the Compaq merger, HP would have an annual planning cycle using the ten-step planning process. Also mentioned was that during the merger and in light of the economic environment, the process is more ad-hoc and shorter term. Kinda like Eve’s Time Dilation…
• Scanning the Environment: In order to be agile, the company needs to scan and understand the external environment. There’s a “standard process” and “as needed” process.

HP since the 1984 followed the “Ten-step planning process.” One of the team members said that it wasn’t just about the steps themselves in isolation but the process of following them. HP moved away from this around 2000 to “Strategic Planning and Review” which focuses on a three-year horizon.

In the conclusion, there was a emphasis on the unique conditions of the timing of the interviews, being in the middle of the HP-Compaq merger.

Introduction to Chinese Philosophy

Chapter 9: Zhuangzi’s Therapeutic Skepticism and Relativism

Zhuangzi is a Warring-States period philosopher that was extremely influential to Daoism. According to the Shiji he exposed the Mohists and Literati and was independent of the rulers – see 《老子韓非列傳》第九章. He argued that we cannot know the Dao, but the view of the Dao depends on our perspective.

He was a proponent of Skepticism, where we cannot know what the Dao is. He brings up the idea of an argument making both sides believe they are right. Arguments may just indicate if someone is persuaded rather than if someone is right. He also brings up the idea that since in a dream we do not know we are in a dream, we may be living in a greater dream.

Zhuangzi also is a proponent of Relativism, where the use of terms “is so” and “right” or “wrong” are relative to whoever is using them (a callback to Hui Shi’s “today I arrived in a town yesterday” sort of thing!)

The story of “three in the morning and four at night” (朝三暮四): A monkey trainer says he will give three nuts to the monkeys and four at night. They are upset, so the trainer then says he will give four in the morning and three at night. They are pleased. It’s equivalently the same thing and pleases the monkeys. This is to point out that while words may not have meanings and while different groups would call different things “right” or “wrong,” he would go along with these distinctions to keep the monkeys people happy.

Detachment from society compared to being from society is also important to Zhuangzi. While distinctions may be pointless, one should not abandon or reject society. Because of social and personal roles, you must accept the obligations they entail.

Questions:

What is skepticism?

• We cannot know what the Dao is or know what is right or wrong.

Explain one of Zhuangzi’s arguments for skepticism.

• Persuading someone in an argument towards a wrong cause means that arguments are not a source of truth
• One doesn’t know they are in a dream until they wake up, we could be in a “greater dream” and wake up into a world with different truths.

What is relativism?

• Words like “true” “false” “right” and “wrong” are all relative to the person or situation. The Dao depends on one’s perspective.

Explain how Zhuangzi exploits an ambiguity in the word shi to suggest relativism.

• 是 indicates “this” (compared to 彼 which is “that”) in classical Chinese but also indicates “true” (compared to 非)

Tell the story of the butcher carving up the ox. What do you think this story illustrates?

• When a beginner butcher begins his craft, he sees the whole ox. But upon learning the craft, he does it by feeling. It indicates the Dao which is based on intuition.

What is one significant similarity between the philosophy of the Daodejing and that of the Zhuangzi? What is one important difference?

• A similarity is that one should follow the Dao.
• A difference is that one should remain detached from society, civilization, and social roles.

Why are sages like Master Chariot unafraid of illness and death? (庄子大宗师第五章)

• “If you are content with the time and abide by the passing, there’s no room for sorrow or joy.”
• Illness and death are unavoidable changes.

Explain the difference between the most radical vision of sagehood and the “wistful Daoist.”

• The most radical version would be to fully embrace death such that you would not be mournful at someone’s death.
• The “wistful Daoist” would recognize the existence of “true sages” but recognize them as people that live outside the rules. It’s impossible for Zhuangzi’s Kongzi to be like these radicals due to their personality.

Tell the story of the butterfly dream. (庄子齐物论第十四章, “庄周梦蝶”) What do you think this story illustrates?

• Zhuangzi dreams he is a butterfly, but when he wakes up, in a state of in-between he could not tell if he was himself dreaming he was a butterfly or a butterfly dreaming he was himself.
• The story illustrates the transformation between the two. Each part is a stage of transformation. Being awake and being asleep are not just two binary differences, but stages. There’s a difference between them, but they’re not inverse.

Apply your understanding of Zhuangzi to the story of Minnow and Breeze that opens the text. (庄子逍遥游第一章) How could you interpret it as suggesting relativism? How could you read the story as skeptical? How might you interpret it as contrasting the perspective of the sage with that of ordinary people?

• The story itself is difficult to understand and unknowable (不知其幾千里也) which could contrast the knowledge of sages vs that of ordinary people. It also shows that the Dao is unknowable and immeasurable like this creature.

Things I’m Liking

• Plus Codes: A geographic addressing system like whatthreewords, except an open standard that’s just a way to shorten coordinates and make them more readable. Developed by google. Check out the Github repo.
• Exploring text reuse with Text Tools for ctext.org: Seeing similarities between texts using data science.

Misc

For the first time in my life, I had a vivid dream that I died and had a conception of the finality of it. In the dream I was calling relatives asking if I was really dead, and they all told me “yes.” This put me in a unique headspace when I woke up that I never had before, and was a good prelude to reading about Zhuangzi.