By Ian Ortega
Not to brag, but I could be the one Ugandan that has written extensively on strategy. I am interested in strategy because I am also born in that country where success is hinged on an understanding of strategy. It’s a country of constraints, both at the macro and micro-level. Those who make it, must navigate many roadblocks, many traps, take detours, create new pathways before arriving at some destination.
The more I write about strategy, the more I get closer to having a theory of everything about strategy. But I can now tell that strategy at its core can only be birthed by an existentialism, a scarcity fix. We strategize simply because we are left with no choice, we find ourselves in a box of finite elements such as energy, time, money, and all the other resources and capabilities. We strategize because not all abilities belong to us, we are blessed in some areas and limited in others.
It’s in these moments when facing a wall, that we figure out, we could break into it, we could turn back and go around the wall, or we develop flying abilities. Thus, strategy is that which comes because you were left with no option but to develop one. That’s why it’s really an art, all strategies are creative endeavours. To answer the one or two questions, what positions shall we occupy and with what advantages shall we claim and hold those positions?
If you are an executive, you need to figure out how to simulate these existential crises among your teams, that’s if you’re interested in cultivating this strategic art. Why does talent rise from the Ghetto? Because of an existentialism. Those who make it from there must think on their feet, they learn to see the picture from A to Z and start from almost nothing to create something. Strategy is not something developed in comfort, that I now know.