How To Learn (And Teach) Strategy?

The New Format Business Schools Need

I work a lot with business schools in different countries—I teach strategy. Everywhere I meet great professionals, genuinely devoted to their work.

That doesn’t mean, though, that I agree with them on everything.

Me DBA students and me, last week

What does my typical EMBA or DBA cohort look like? Fifteen to twenty senior leaders—CEOs or business owners—from different companies.

Of course, we dive deep into both the philosophy and practice of strategy, and we solve lots of cases.

But there are two problems.

First, we have to use cases from other companies—or even fictional ones. We can’t use the students’ real cases because they come from different industries.

What real case can I offer a cohort that includes a banker, a logistics startup founder, a retail-chain CEO, and a construction-company executive?

Second, each company is represented by a single participant—usually its leader. Even if they study hard, who’s going to teach their teams?

I believe in a different format, which I’ve been developing since 2020.

I prefer to work not with leaders from different companies, but with the leadership team of one company.

And we don’t just study strategy—we develop it.

The capstone project is the company’s strategy—on the owner’s desk or on the board’s agenda.

No made-up cases—the real strategy of the company where the participants work.

The team learns together—building a shared knowledge base and a common language for strategy. Learning together is the best team building.

It’s a format where consulting and education merge. And I believe this is the future.

Participants don’t just learn—they actively craft the strategy together.

We dive in theory but spend most of our time practicing—developing the strategy for this business.

The learning ROI is clear—the strategy lands on the owner’s desk, and the knowledge stays with the leaders who crafted it.

In the future, when the strategy gets outdated, they’ll update it themselves.

I believe that in the future, business school will transform, and professors will go teach inside organizations.

What do you think about this learning format? Share your thoughts in the comments. If you’d like to learn more or discuss bringing this format to your organization, send me a message.

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Read also: Cheetahs, Gazelles, and Business Strategy.

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Check out my book Red and Yellow Strategies: Flip Your Strategic Thinking and Overcome Short-termism.