We Threw Out Our Bold Vision — and Only Then Did Growth Begin
The 8 habits that set deep strategic thinkers apart. Part 1: System thinking
The antithesis of strategic thinking isn’t mindlessness – it’s self-obsession. But self-obsession has always been part of strategic thinking.
On September 13, 1970, Milton Friedman published an article in The New York Times titled "The Social Responsibility of Business Is to Increase Its Profits."
In it, he argued that shareholders are the company’s economic engine — and the only group it’s socially responsible to.
This article changed the world more than it appears. Every time tech support tells you it’s not their fault, when your new car breaks down for no reason, or when your bank treats you like you're Osama bin Laden — that’s not bad luck. That’s Friedman’s legacy at work.
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Few topics are talked about as much—and understood as poorly—as strategic thinking. My goal is ambitious: to change that. This is the first article in a series of eight that explores the habits that distinguish deep strategic thinkers. In this series, I'll cover the following topics:
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