Chess is typically played 1v1. But if you got ten grandmasters to look at a single board in play, I would trust their collective intelligence over any one of them singularly.
Why?
Because together, the grandmasters can better spot the positional nuances that might escape any individual player.
I think this points to a fundamental reality CEOs should understand: Strategy thrives on many minds.
In the business context, this means that bringing together the creative, informed, motivated minds on your team will result in a better strategy for your company than you could come up with on your own. Thus, when it comes to creating strategy, the CEO’s job is to pull in multiple perspectives and know who to listen to.
Single-minded military strategy
Military history gives us plenty of examples of this principle being violated.
Here is one of the most dramatic: Throughout World War II, Hitler repeatedly insisted on being the only creator of military strategy. While this was, obviously, not the worst …
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Managing The Future to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.