Science, Strategy and War The Strategic Theory of ... - Boekje Pienter

The meaning of strategy and the art of successExtrapolating from the previous set of propositions, Boyd develops a new notion of whatstrategy is at its most fundamental level, in its most abstract form. It brings to the fore againthe theme of adaptation. Boyd answers the four questions he listed at the beginning ofStrategic Game of ? and ? 78 :? – What Is Strategy - ?A mental tapestry of changing intentions for harmonizing and focusing our efforts,as a basis for realizing some aim or purpose in an unfolding and oftenunforeseen world of many bewildering events and many contending interests.? – What Is the Aim or Purpose of Strategy - ?To improve our ability to shape and adapt to unfoldingcircumstances, so that we (as individuals or as groups or asa culture or as a nation-state) can survive on our own terms.? – What Is the Central Theme and What Are the Key Ideas that Underlie Strategy - ?The central theme is one of interaction/isolation while the key ideas are themoral-mental-physical means towards realizing this interaction/ isolation.? – How Do We Play to this Theme and Activate these Ideas - ?By an instinctive see-saw of analysis and synthesis across a variety ofdomains, or across competing independent channels of information, in orderto spontaneously generate new mental images or impressions that match-upwith an unfolding world of uncertainty and change.In these propositions we can discern themes that have appeared in the essay and thepresentation: adaptation, multiple perspectives, analysis/synthesis, interaction/isolation. Although thepresentation evidently addresses the societal level, the previous discussion must beconsidered to apply to any organism and to all levels and sub-entities of any organization, forat each level of organization, in principle, one can discern strategic behavior; it is thatbehavior which deals with the way to survive as an organizational entity, with its ownpurpose, functions and characteristics. That behavior might be tactical when looked uponfrom a higher level in the larger parent organization, but for the unit it may be strategic. Thedefinitions he develops here contain some elements of insights he has developed in Patterns ofConflict and Organic Design, but with a slight difference. Moreover, Patterns of Conflict cumulatedin a definition of strategy after a tour through military history, and those definitions must tosome extend still be understood within the context of the behavior of armed forces. Herethe definitions refer to organizations in general. The definitions he presents here have nopredecessors in military strategic theory, it is unique, and at the time must have appeareddefinitely so. They are evidently pregnant with influences of neo-Darwinist literature,chaoplexity studies and systems theoretical themes. With this novel abstract78 Ibid, p.58.258