---
aliases: ["Good Strategy Bad Strategy"]
Is A: Note
Author: "Richard Rumelt"
Topics: ["[[topic-saas-business]]"]
URL: "https://example.com/good-strategy"
---
# Good Strategy Bad Strategy
*Richard Rumelt*

Rumelt's core argument is that most of what passes for strategy in organizations is not strategy at all -- it is a mixture of vague aspirations, financial targets, and motivational slogans. Real strategy, he argues, has a specific structure he calls "the kernel": a diagnosis of the challenge, a guiding policy for dealing with the challenge, and a set of coherent actions designed to carry out the guiding policy. This simple framework is extraordinarily clarifying. When you force yourself to articulate the kernel of your strategy, you quickly discover whether you actually have one or are just hoping things work out.

The diagnosis component is particularly valuable. Rumelt insists that good strategy begins with an honest, clear-eyed assessment of the situation -- not with goals or vision statements. What is the actual challenge you face? What are the constraints? Where is the leverage? For an indie founder running a newsletter and content business, this means being honest about things like: your audience is small, your time is limited, you compete for attention with everyone from the New York Times to random threads on Twitter. Only by diagnosing the real challenge can you design a guiding policy that exploits your specific advantages (depth of expertise, personal voice, niche focus) rather than trying to compete on dimensions where you will lose.

The distinction between good strategy and bad strategy has stuck with me as a daily filter. Bad strategy is fluffy, avoids hard choices, and tries to please everyone. Good strategy identifies the critical challenge, makes deliberate trade-offs, and focuses resources where they will have the most impact. This maps perfectly to product decisions, content strategy, and even personal time management. Every time I catch myself writing a "strategy" that is really just a wish list, I hear Rumelt's voice asking: "But what is the kernel?"

## Key takeaways

- The kernel of good strategy: diagnosis (what is the challenge?), guiding policy (how will you approach it?), and coherent actions (what specifically will you do?)
- Most "strategy" is actually bad strategy: vague goals, buzzwords, and a refusal to make hard choices
- Good strategy requires saying no to many things so you can focus resources on the few things that matter
- The diagnosis is the most underrated step -- without an honest assessment of the challenge, no strategy can work
- Proximate objectives (achievable near-term goals) are more useful than distant aspirations for driving action
- Leverage is the key strategic concept: find the point where focused effort produces disproportionate results
- Strategic thinking is a skill that improves with practice, not a talent reserved for executives

## How I apply this

- Before any major initiative (product launch, content pivot, new revenue stream), I force myself to write a one-page strategy kernel: what is the diagnosis, what is the guiding policy, and what are the three coherent actions? If I cannot fill in all three, I do not proceed. This has prevented me from chasing several shiny objects that had no real strategic basis.
- I use Rumelt's "bad strategy" checklist as a filter when evaluating my own plans. If my strategy document contains phrases like "leverage synergies" or "become the leading platform," I know I am fooling myself and need to get more specific.
- The proximate objectives concept has improved my quarterly planning. Instead of setting ambitious annual goals, I focus on what is the most important thing I can accomplish in the next 90 days, given current constraints. This has made my planning more realistic and my execution more focused.

## Related

- [[small-teams-scale-through-systems]]
- [[the-saas-metric-that-matters]]
- [[b2b-content-is-trust-not-traffic]]
- [[the-real-job-of-a-newsletter]]
- [[note-zero-to-one]]
- [[note-the-lean-startup]]
- [[note-essentialism]]
- [[note-the-effective-executive]]
- [[topic-saas-business]]
- [[topic-content-strategy]]
