To deepen your understanding, here’s a curated list of bonus content: videos, books, and historical resources that complement the episode and bring the story to life.

John D. Rockefeller: The Man Behind Standard Oil

A well-rounded overview of Rockefeller’s life and legacy can be found in this biographical entry from the National Museum of American History. It explores his early career, creation of Standard Oil, and philanthropic work, shedding light on the man behind the empire.

https://americanhistory.si.edu/american-enterprise-exhibition/rockefeller-john-d

The Men Who Built America

For a dramatized account of the Gilded Age's industrial titans, this History Channel series features John D. Rockefeller alongside Carnegie, Vanderbilt, and J.P. Morgan. While designed for entertainment, it effectively conveys the ambition and competition that defined the era.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2167393/

Titan by Ron Chernow

One of the most comprehensive (and balanced) biographies of Rockefeller, Titan is essential reading. It goes deep into his personality, religious convictions, business strategies, and contradictions. Even a few chapters will enrich your understanding of the man and his empire.

https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/16121.Titan

The Standard Oil Trust Agreement (1882)

This is the original legal document that structured Standard Oil as a trust—a radical innovation at the time. You can read the full text through archive.org. It's a fascinating look at how corporate power was organized before antitrust laws took hold.

https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_History_of_the_Standard_Oil_Company/Volume_2/Appendix/Number_52

How the Trust Was Broken: The 1911 Supreme Court Decision

This accessible summary from the Library of Congress explains how and why the U.S. government dismantled Standard Oil. It provides crucial context for understanding the rise of antitrust legislation in the U.S.

https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/221/1/

The Legacy: What Happened to Standard Oil’s Children?

After the breakup, Standard Oil spun off into several companies—many of which still dominate the energy sector today, including Exxon, Chevron, and Mobil. This article and visual chart show the family tree of Standard Oil’s successors.

https://www.visualcapitalist.com/chart-evolution-standard-oil/

The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money, and Power

Based on Daniel Yergin's Pulitzer Prize-winning book, this documentary series chronicles the history of the global oil industry, with a significant focus on Standard Oil's role in shaping the modern energy landscape. It's an in-depth look at how oil became a pivotal factor in global politics and economics.

Ida Tarbell’s “The History of the Standard Oil Company”

This landmark work of investigative journalism helped catalyze public opinion against the trust. Written in 1904, it remains a gripping and detailed look at Standard Oil’s practices. A must-read for anyone interested in the power of the press.

https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/60692

Got any thoughts or questions? Let me know in the comments or send me a message—I’d love to hear what you found most fascinating!

Ruben

What follows is not just a legal defeat, but a strategic turning point. We explore how the dissolution of Standard Oil in 1911 gave rise to a constellation of powerful successor companies—and how Rockefeller’s influence lived on long after the trust was broken. This is the story of transformation through collapse, and how strategy adapts in the face of pressure.

Episode Chapters

(02:45) Part 6 - The Inferior Power
(32:03) Part 7 - The Fracture
(43:44) Part 8 - The Shadow Empire

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Episode 11

We follow the birth of the Standard Oil Trust—one of the most effective and controversial business structures ever created. As Rockefeller’s empire expands, he encounters new challenges, allies, and unexpected rewards. This is the story of ambition becoming infrastructure, and belief turning into monopoly.

Episode Chapters

(01:45) Part 3 - The Covenant
(34:03) Part 4 - The Trust is Born
(52:44) Part 5 - The Promised Land

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Episode 10

But Rockefeller’s world was anything but orderly. The oil fields of Pennsylvania were wild, speculative, and wasteful—a far cry from the structured empire he would one day build. As we enter the chaos of America’s first oil boom, we begin to see the forces that would push Rockefeller toward his radical vision: to tame the frontier, eliminate waste, and create a new kind of business.

This is the story of how strategy, faith, and frontier ambition collided—setting the stage for one of the most powerful companies in history.

Episode Chapters

(02:22) Part 1 - The Divine Ledger
(30:21) Part 2 - The Wild Frontier

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Episode 9

Pearl Diving: Dubai’s First Industry

Before the discovery of oil, pearl diving was the backbone of Dubai’s economy. The video below offers a glimpse into this ancient practice, showcasing traditional tools and techniques that sustained generations of Emirati divers. Imagine the courage it took to plunge deep into the sea with nothing but a nose clip and a lungful of air, all in the hopes of retrieving a single, precious pearl.

Life in the Desert: The Bedouin Experience

For thousands of years, the Bedouin people navigated the harsh Arabian desert, relying on their deep knowledge of the land and an unwavering sense of resilience. This BBC documentary follows two journalists as they experience the desert as the Bedouins once did—without modern comforts. The contrast between then and now is striking, highlighting just how much Dubai has evolved from its nomadic roots.

Dubai Creek: Where It All Began

Long before the towering skyscrapers, Dubai’s fate was tied to a single waterway—Dubai Creek. In the 1950s, this bustling port was filled with merchants and wooden dhows, forming the heart of the city’s early economy. Today, the creek is a popular tourist destination, but its historical significance remains. This video takes you on a journey through its transformation.

The Prize: Understanding the Oil Industry

The discovery of oil changed everything. The Prize, a Pulitzer-winning book by Daniel Yergin, details the history of oil and its role in shaping the modern world. If the 800+ page book feels overwhelming, you’re in luck—the story has been adapted into an eight-episode TV series, available online for free. This is essential viewing for understanding Dubai’s rapid ascent.

Dubai’s Most Iconic Buildings

Dubai is home to some of the world's most innovative and extravagant architecture. From the sail-shaped Burj Al Arab to the sky-piercing Burj Khalifa, this video explores the city’s ten most iconic structures. Each one is a testament to Dubai’s ambition and ingenuity.

For a bit of Hollywood flair, check out the famous Mission: Impossible stunt where Tom Cruise dangles from the Burj Khalifa. This scene remains one of the most breathtaking moments in action film history.

A Hidden Gem: The Saudi Arabian Oasis

While Dubai is a marvel of human engineering, nature has its own breathtaking wonders. Deep in the Arabian desert lies a stunning oasis—an unexpected paradise surrounded by miles of sand. This short video provides a glimpse of what it would have felt like to stumble upon this life-saving refuge after days of travel through the scorching heat.

The Future of Dubai: What’s Next?

Dubai never stops dreaming. From floating cities to vertical farms, its next-generation projects are as ambitious as ever. This video outlines some of the most visionary ideas currently in development. While some may seem outlandish, as financial commentator Jim Cramer once said, “Dubai is a city that mercilessly taunts the pessimist.”

Each piece of content offers a deeper appreciation of Dubai’s past, present, and future. If you enjoyed my Dubai series on Stratagems, these bonus materials will make the experience even richer.

Got any thoughts or questions? Let me know in the comments or send me a message—I’d love to hear what you found most fascinating!

Ruben

We examine how decades-old strategic decisions continue to resonate in modern Dubai, influencing everything from the Nationals vs. Expats debate and a thriving tax-free economy to successes in tourism, banking, internet industries, and other surprising sectors. Join us as we unpack the legacy of visionary leadership and the enduring quirks that make Dubai a global marvel.

Episode Chapters

(01:52) Part 7 - The Post-Oil World
(13:36) Part 8 - The Modern Economy

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Episode 8

When oil was discovered in 1966, its quantity was modest. Undeterred, Sheik Rashid was forced to craft a bold strategy, parlaying limited oil wealth into a diversified economy. His calculated decisions set the stage for one of the fastest transformations in history, while rapid development brought with it unforeseen challenges and consequences.

Episode Chapters

(01:21) Part 4 - The Quest
(16:15) Part 5 - The Lottery Ticket
(37:01) Part 6 - The New Pearls

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Episode 7

This is the first of three episodes exploring Dubai's rise and the strategy behind its transformation. From its Bedouin roots to its early modernization efforts, we examine the calculated decisions that established an iconic global city. Before skyscrapers and luxury, resilience, risk-taking, and a long-term vision would shape Dubai’s future.

Episode Chapters

(02:56) Part 1 - The Desert
(29:12) Part 2 - The Sleepy Village
(39:53) Part 3 - The Collapse

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Episode 6

The Hudson's Bay Company would forever change the lives of everyone it touched, especially the hundreds of thousands of Indigenous people. The business model is simple by modern standards. It primarily traded one good, the beaver furs, in exchange for metal goods.

It would become a pawn in the chess game of empire-building and directly influence the formation of Canada and the United States. In episode five, we will explore the creation of one of the oldest commercial enterprises (still in existence today) and its rise to influence.

Episode Chapters:

(03:35) Part 1: A Strategy of Harmony

(01:02:53) Part 2: A Strategy of Chaos

(01:35:34) Part 3: A Strategy of Conquest

(03:35:41) Conclusion

**

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**

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• Background music is called "Adding the Sun" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) / Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

Episode 5

Beavers are the center of this story. The following video shows the difference between guard hairs and the coveted underlayer.

The following map shows the territory belonging to The Company during the first charter.

Alexander McKenzie's highly influential journals are available online. The website has created multiple files you can download into ebook readers.

If you’re curious about what George Simpson looks like, here you go.

Cheers,

Ruben

How did The Firm become so influential? Episode 4 will try to answer this question by looking at McKinsey in the middle of the 20th century when it was led by the man who molded the organization in his image, Marvin Bower.

Sometimes called the Jesuits of capitalism, McKinsey has shaped the modern world, directly and indirectly, and often behind the scenes. When big decisions have been made, a McKinsey advisor was likely in the room. 

Episode Chapters:

(06:12) Part 1 - Birth of a Profession

(43:23) Part 2 - A Law Firm That Doesn’t Practice Law

(01:45:43) Part 3 - The Gospel of the Multidivisional Model

(02:10:26) Part 4 - Jesuits of Capitalism

(02:39:42) Part 5 - Rise of Strategy

(03:17:07) Part 6 - Are They Worth It?

(03:35:41) Conclusion

**

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• Background music is called "Adding the Sun" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) / Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

Episode 4

If you want to see the top-notch research produced by McKinsey, then check out the McKinsey Quarterly. It’s been in publication for over 60 years and contains the firm’s latest thinking and ideas.

The following video may help you better understand the M-form structure in more detail.

Taylor’s book that launched the scientific management craze has a great summary over at Wikipedia. You may be surprised to find the ideas still bouncing around inside organizations.

BCG’s Growth-Share Matrix can also be explained visually.

Finally, McKinsey is known for its PowerPoint slides and the following video shows you how an ex-McKinsey employee thinks about creating them.

Cheers,

Ruben

Regulatory Changes

This week I will share three ideas from the fourth Stratagems episode as I try to determine how McKinsey became so influential.

We can trace the rise of management consultants back to a specific moment in time: the passing of the Glass-Steagall Banking Act in 1933 by the U.S. Congress. 

Among the many new rules, Congress required banks to perform due diligence on the management teams of organizations while also preventing bankers and accountants from carrying out these assessments. Bankers and accountants already engaged in other services, legal advice and audits respectively, and Congress wanted to avoid conflict of interests. 

In that void, a new profession appeared, management consultants. 

Regulatory changes continued to play a big role (positive and negative) for management consulting firms throughout the rest of the 20th century. 

There’s nothing wrong with seizing opportunities created by regulatory changes but the changes aren’t always positive. You can ride the wave to higher profits but it may also throw you upside down.

Best Practices

For management teams themselves, the new regulations of 1933 prevented them from employing trade associations, industry cartels or bankers to create industry benchmarks and to learn about the latest innovations in growth and administration. The FDR administration of the 1930s was highly concerned about monopolistic behavior.

Management teams thus turned to management consultants as their primary source of interorganizational knowledge. If you wanted to know the latest best practices for how to run an organization, firms like McKinsey were the best source. They were working across industries and were up to date on what your competitors were doing.

Your organization today might not be limited by a lack of industry benchmarks but it is valuable to ponder where future insights will be coming from. Are you doing enough to seek out the latest ideas on how to best run your organization?

Market Saturation

Before the 1970s, management consultants primarily helped organizations reorganize themselves for higher efficiency and profits. At the time, the multidivisional model pioneered by Sears, GM and others was all the rage. Multidivisional calls for establishing individual divisions—think the different car brands for GM—that compete against each other while receiving support from a central team on universal matters such as legal and HR.

McKinsey and others took this model and recommended it to the biggest organizations around the world. In Britain, 72 of the 100 largest organizations adopted the multidivisional structure by 1970; 32 under the guidance of management consultants. This work was highly lucrative and management consulting firms could not keep up with the demand. 

The problem is that eventually, the phones stopped ringing. McKinsey quite literally had reorganized most of the large organizations in Europe and America. The 1970s became a decade of crisis as management consultants tried to figure out alternative services to sell, eventually settling on strategic planning, culture optimizations and technology adoption.

Organizations cannot rely on a single service if long term viability is the goal, even when that service is popular and seemingly insatiable. Products and services need to be renewed or structured in a way to encourage ongoing consumer relationships.

Ruben

Zone 2

Running a marathon (26 miles/42 kilometers) can be difficult for new runners and will take several hours of non-stop running. You would need to train for months to develop the necessary endurance and before you can slap a number across your chest.

If you have gone through this training process, it may seem impossible to fathom the training required for ultra-marathons, races with hundreds or thousands of miles.

Take the Self-Transcendence race which requires you to run 3,100 miles or 4,988 kilometers over a 52 day period. You would need to average 60 miles per day or just over two marathons worth of running. Then repeat that 52 times in a row. Only 12 people are doing it in 2024.

As it turns out, training for ultra-marathons is counterintuitive. 

Ultra-marathon athletes focus on “zone 2” heart training, an intensity just a little beyond speed walking. You would still be able to maintain a conversation while in zone 2 mode. No huffing and puffing here or trying to push yourself to your maximum capacity.

Athletes then ramp up their total miles over several months to get ready for longer distances. Their speed increases but more importantly, their capacity for more running goes up.

In a 3,100 mile race, you’re not focused on going the fastest. You focus on slowing down the least and maintaining a sustainable pace. The challenge for these athletes is not overexerting themselves; they need the discipline to slow down and relax into a long haul effort.

We sometimes need to sprint in life but other times, we need to find a way to sustain a consistent effort over a long time. The key is doing less. 

The Truth

Readers of this newsletter know I love Robert Caro and I recently finished his book titled Working (about his work style) and a documentary about Caro and his editor titled Turn Every Page.

In the book, he talks about his experience covering Lyndon Johnson's early years. All the existing biographies were consistent in their portrayal of LBJ as someone who was loved by his high school classmates and friends. And yet, Caro felt that something was missing. 

He found himself in a conversation with yet another high school classmate and she was getting exasperated with Caro. She had told him everything he knew and besides, Caro could see for himself how his classmates saw LBJ in the yearbook. She told him to check out pages 22 - 26.

Caro then realized that his copy of the yearbook did not have pages 22 - 26. They had been carefully ripped out. It took several tries before he found one copy that had pages 22 - 26. In those pages, he saw that his classmates did not like LBJ and in fact, did not trust him. They had given him all kinds of nicknames like “Bull Johnson.”

Caro’s books ended up portraying LBJ drastically differently than other biographies because he was willing to go farther in the search of the truth.

The initial statements we hear in our organization are usually only partially true. We need to dig deeper to find the truth.

Quality

The common belief in today’s internet is that you need volume to stand out. Youtube channels and TikTok accounts release professionally produced videos daily and sometimes even multiple times per day. Linkedin, Twitter and other platforms reward you for posting frequently. 

If you started a podcast today, what frequency would you pick? 

If you said weekly, you would be close to the average show. According to Buzzsprout (a podcast hosting solution), 35% of podcasts publish an episode “every 3 to 7 days and 40% every 8 to 14 days.” The average length of an episode is between 25 and 30 minutes.

This all aligns with what we hear. People don’t have time to consume content. Things should be short, frequent and to the point.

This is why a podcast such as Hardocre History doesn’t seem to make any sense. On average, they release one episode per year and each episode will be around 4 hours long. Each episode is downloaded millions of times and the praise for the podcast is overwhelmingly positive. The podcast has been running for just under 20 years.

Hardcore History breaks all the rules and yet, it is successful. 

The short, frequent, ephemeral approach to content also works but it is not the only approach.

Whenever you hear someone say “this is the only way,” you should know that there are always different approaches that may be a better fit for your organization.

Ruben

Today’s episode will look at how Edwin Land molded Polaroid in his image and drove the company to create a market, instant photography, through groundbreaking research. Land’s story is endlessly fascinating and we will also look at his secretive but highly influential military career with several U.S. administrations.

The SX-70 was a successful strategy for Polaroid but it also planted the seeds that would eventually derail the company and force it into bankruptcy. This episode might invoke deep feelings of nostalgia as we go back in time to look at one of America’s most influential companies.

Episode Chapters:

(02:23) PART 1 - “If you are right, the facts at the moment don't matter because in due course the facts will catch up with you.”

(08:13) PART 2 - “If anything is worth doing, it's worth doing to excess.”

(45:01) Part 3 - "Do not undertake a program unless the goal is manifestly important and its achievement is nearly impossible."

(01:10:18) Part 4 - "If you are able to state a problem then the problem can be solved. The rest is just hard work."

(01:22:06) Part 5 - "The only thing that keeps us alive is our brilliance. The only thing protecting our brilliance is our patents."

(02:06:37) Part 6 - "The bottom line is in heaven."

(02:28:23) Conclusion

**

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• Background music is called "Adding the Sun" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) / Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

Episode 3

The Polaroid pictures that made it into LIFE magazine are here.

Here’s the 95A/Land Camera in action.

Polaroid relied on TV spots for their promotion and this was the best way to show consumers how the products worked.

If you want the Swinger jingle stuck in your head, this Facebook video is for you: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1157009511385340

Polaroid created a video to promote the SX-70 and it is just fantastic.

Paul Giambarba was responsible for the brand identity for Polaroid. His site covers his thinking and approach.

Finally, you can see Edwin Land in his classic visionary form below.

Cheers,

Ruben

I’m deep into the world of Polaroid and the release of the SX-70 as I get ready for episode three of Stratagems. You cannot separate Polaroid the company from Edwin Land, its enigmatic founder. 

Dr. Land was a true genius, figuring out polarization at the age of 19 (scientists had failed to find a solution for centuries). He has an entire secret career helping the military with various projects including the U-2 plane, the famous spy plane of the Cold War. He forged Polaroid into his image.

When Dr. Land retired (some would say forced out), the company seemed to lose something. The decline wasn’t instantaneous but it never captured the magic of the SX-70 in future products or the shifts in the photography world such as digital cameras. The company filed for bankruptcy in 2001, 19 years after Dr. Land left the company.

Without Dr. Land, Polaroid didn’t have the same spark. Companies that rely on genius are bound to run into issues if they ever lose their resident whiz. Instead, companies need to figure out how to run with average intellect, not outlier intelligence.

Books

If you have read this newsletter for a while, you know I love books. My new podcast allows me to dive into a whole category of books that I typically wouldn’t read. 

I believe there are three categories of books.

The first category are those books I start but never finish because they don’t capture my imagination. I give books around 50 pages before deciding to move on.

The second category are those books that I finish and are generally good. These books may contain a handful of powerful ideas.

The third category are those books that I finish and think about for months and years. These books are incredible and I may only read a handful of these in any given year. The books by Robert Caro, Will Durant, Josh Waitzkin and others have come up multiple times in this newsletter.

We should strive to read more of the third category of books. The challenge is that we don’t know in which category a book might fall until we finish it. 

Past

I had a recent strategy conversation with a non-profit that is rebounding after the pandemic with their in-person events. One of their two strategic goals was to return to their pre-pandemic attendance levels, the other being financial. 

I’m skeptical of any strategic goal that looks backwards. I understand why returning to a previous standard is attractive but I think it is fundamentally misguided. 

The past is gone and we can only look forward. By focusing on the past, we dismiss the possibilities in front of us. It would be more powerful for this organization to think about their future and what they would like to create. Maybe it requires more in-person attendees or maybe the conditions are better suited for an alternative format.

The past may seem comfortable but it is not worth the trip.

Ruben

P.S. If you’re interested in working together on your organization’s strategy, send me an email. I work with 3 - 5 organizations (I call them Thinking Partners) at a time and a spot opened up recently.

The first step to explore a working relationship is a 30-minute video call where we get to know each other. The goal is to find issues that are important to your team, issues that can be solved through better strategic thinking and issues that are exciting for both of us.

A few months ago I finished the fourth book in Robert Caro’s fantastic political biography of Lyndon Johnson (he has one more volume). I first came across Caro’s work by reading The Power Broker, his equally enthralling biography of Robert Moses, the man responsible for many of New York’s urban planning decisions during the 20th century.

Robert Caro has spent the last 40 years researching and writing his LBJ books, making these books his life’s work. I’m fascinated by individuals who dedicated themselves to a single endeavor. It reminds me of Renaissance artists who would spend their entire lives working on a single sculpture.

Robert Caro’s work can be boiled down to one central question. 

How does someone acquire and wield power?

Having a single central question to guide your efforts can be powerful. It can function as a north star, guiding you during challenging times. 

What is the central question of your life (or organization)?

Dark Matter

Over my summer break, I read Dark Matter by Blake Crouch. The book centers on one of my favorite ideas, the existence of the multiverse. Superhero movies have beaten the multiverse idea into a trope but the multiverse boils down to the potential existence of parallel realities to ours. Some could be identical except for a few details and some are vastly different.

In one world, you decided to marry someone else, while in another, you turned down your current job and went in a different direction. Every decision creates branches of possibilities and if you fast forward enough time, your life may seem unrecognizable. The multiverse challenges our entire notion of time (past, present and future) while allowing us to rejoice in alternative life paths (what if questions).

The multiverse is relevant for us as strategic discussions are mental explorations of future realities. 

Should we expand into market X?

Do we specialize in this one area or the next?

What if I hire this person?

Don’t see the future as a cloudy vision. Instead, imagine the chain of decisions from following one path.

If you do expand into market X, you would then need to build a team with a specific expertise, you would need to change your production capabilities and you would need to adapt a new way to market. 

You can never guarantee certain outcomes but you’re not also throwing the dice at the universe. 

Daily Exercises

A few months ago I started playing the Connections game in the New York Times app. The game is in the same place where you can find Wordle. 

Connections is a simple game of grouping four words by a theme. The themes can be obvious (movies) or they can be quite abstract. There’s a new puzzle every day and the game only takes a few minutes, unless you refuse to give up. 

I enjoy the simplicity of the game while practicing one of my key strengths: pattern recognition. The game allows me to hone in a meta skill that I can then use in other areas of my life. I wouldn’t rely solely on this game but it is a fun addition. 

Think of your mental strengths and how you can build them through daily exercises. 

A marketing executive may deconstruct billboards in Times Square for lessons in branding, a hedge fund manager may connect newspaper headlines to changes in markets or an architect may mentally redesign a building around them for beauty or more efficiency.

These games are all around us, we just have to look around.

Ruben

P.S. If you’re interested in working together on your organization’s strategy, send me an email. I work with 3 - 5 organizations (I call them Thinking Partners) at a time and a spot opened up recently.

The first step to explore a working relationship is a 30-minute video call where we get to know each other. If it seems like a mutual good fit, we proceed to step two.

The second step is a 60 - 90 minute video call with you and your team where we will dive deeper into one of your top issues. This longer session is similar to the work we would do together so we can both get a feel on what a working relationship would actually look like. If your team is complete after the second session, we will end here. If you’re interested in exploring further, we move on to step three.

The third step is to go over a bespoke proposal for an engagement. Every proposal is tailored to each organization and the issues that came up in the previous steps.

The goal is to find issues that are important to your team, issues that can be solved through better strategic thinking and issues that are exciting for both of us.

I hope you’re enjoying your summer (or winter if down-under). Today’s newsletter is all about priorities and why it can be so hard to limit your team or organization to just three (not five, not seven, not fourteen). Three is arbitrary but the real skill is learning to say no.

Now accepting one new thinking partner

If you’re interested in working together on your organization’s strategy, send me an email. I work with 3 - 5 organizations (I call them Thinking Partners) at a time and a spot opened up recently.

The first step to explore a working relationship is a 30-minute video call where we get to know each other. If it seems like a mutual good fit, we proceed to step two.

The second step is a 60 - 90 minute video call with you and your team where we will dive deeper into one of your top issues. This longer session is similar to the work we would do together so we can both get a feel on what a working relationship would actually look like. If your team is complete after the second session, we will end here. If you’re interested in exploring further, we move on to step three.

The third step is to go over a bespoke proposal for an engagement. Every proposal is tailored to each organization and the issues that came up in the previous steps.

The goal is to find issues that are important to your team, issues that can be solved through better strategic thinking and issues that are exciting for both of us.

A couple of updates before we get started

• I am back from a much needed break. The Vancouver weather aligned itself to provide non-stop sunny and warm weather and I am thankful for it!

• My favorite activity from my break was a beginner sailing course. I love the actual sailing but I was confused as to why this field cannot use basic words like “left” or “right” (port and starboard are the correct words). I’m sure there is a reason but I don’t know it yet.

• I listened to Dark Matter by Blake Crouch over my break, a fictional mystery on the multiverse. The book does a great job at weaving in science (sometimes hypothetical) to explain this nutty idea. There’s also a TV series on Apple TV+ but I would recommend the book first.

• I started working on the third episode for Stratagems and I’m excited to get into the recording booth. I’m covering the story of Polaroid and the intriguing Edward Land.

• The title of this post is a literal quote from a recent strategy session. I’m planning to bring you similar posts over the next few weeks.

When I help organizations formulate strategy, I do my best to limit them to three strategic priorities. As soon as my mouth finishes forming the word “priorities,” I hear the expected pushback.

“How could we just limit ourselves to three?”

“It’s impossible to only choose three!”

“We have so many things to do, three is unrealistic.”

Other organizations don’t push back but instead find ways to circumvent the limit. I had one organization tell me that in the past, they have “cheated” by sneaking 12 priorities into three things.

I get it, most teams are ambitious. The problem is that many of these teams are often under-resourced and causing themselves unnecessary stress.

Luckily, there is a 5-minute solution. All you have to do is watch the following video.

If that was enough for you, then enjoy the rest of your day!

For the rest of us, I understand if “stop it” is too simplistic of an answer. 

Let's explore the three most common situations that can lead teams to have too many priorities. See if you recognize yourself in any of them.

1) Succumbing to the weight of the present

We drastically overestimate what we can do in the short-term and underestimate what we can do in the long-term. A 2-year strategy plan may feel short but two years is more time that we could fathom. 

Teams may feel pressured to fix things, especially if there is acute pain. A team suffering from poor communication, decrease in sales volume and talent attrition wants to solve everything, tomorrow if possible. The reality is that by tackling all three challenges at once, you’re less likely to solve any of them. 

The solution here is to implement simple rules to limit your workload such as:

• 3 strategic priorities (over two years)

• 3 projects (over one month)

• 3 tasks (over one day)

The numbers are arbitrary here but they should be reasonable. Imagine starting your work day knowing that you only have three tasks that you must get done. Or that you’re working on two projects for the next four weeks. 

The pairing down means you can focus on fewer things. Instead of making haphazard progress on lots of things, you can make significant progress on a couple of things. The catch is that you have to tame your ambition over the short-term.

The second way to relax in the present is through the use of phases.

Imagine that you decide to improve your health. You want to lose 20 lbs, wake up without an alarm clock and improve your flexibility. You give yourself one year to get all the goals all done. How would you tackle them?

The most common approach would be all at once but that will fail because it is too much work.

What if instead you broke out the year into three 4-month phases, one for each goal? You could get your workout routine and eating in order before moving on to sleep and finally to flexibility. At the end of the year, you could have accomplished all three goals.

Using phases in strategic planning can have the same impact. An organization could break out a three year plan into three one-year phases. Imagine telling your team that you will now spend the next year working deeply on one strategic priority (while taking care of the day-to-day).

2) Constant addition and no subtraction

Your organization is like this glass of water.

The glass will overfill if you try to add too many tasks at any given time. You could make the glass bigger by hiring more people or perhaps finding those elusive AI productivity improvements but your glass will always have limits.

Organizations are constantly adding things.

New projects

New priorities

New goals

New technologies

New products/services

New markets

I’m exhausted already. Where is the subtraction? 

In a recent strategy session, we talked about what activities their team should abandon. They outlined process improvements that will have an impact but I was disappointed that they didn’t think bigger. They didn’t think of what services or customer segments to abandon, despite their team constantly talking about being understaffed. 

Subtraction doesn’t always come easily. Once something is added, there’s a stickiness that gets stronger over time like concrete. It can feel hard to shut down a service, product or unit but I think the psychological effects of stopping something are tougher.

Your organization needs routines for subtraction such as:

• Remove one recurring meeting every month

• If we add a new product, we need to remove an existing one

• If we add a new technology, we need to remove an existing one

• If we add a team member, we automate portions of their job

• If we add a new project, we remove or complete an existing one

Anyone can add more water to the glass. Organizations are full of ideas and even younger workers aren’t afraid to share them anymore. It is much harder to be the person who advocates for removing water from the glass.

3) The curse of too many ideas

Many organizations strive to be more inclusive by allowing anyone to suggest ideas. The intention is positive but you can end up with too many ideas.

Imagine that I suggest that we should have a week-long staff retreat. It took me three minutes to think of the idea but it may take someone weeks of effort to turn this idea into reality.

Even if the idea never gets off the ground, the idea will now consume your mental energy as you think about it. You don’t want to ignore my idea so you will carry the mental cost.

I’m not suggesting that you prevent people from suggesting ideas. Instead, you need ways to vet them. Here are some ways to do that.

First, you can allow your staff to vote on all the ideas. The voting can be anonymously to prevent people from feeling bad about saying no to something their colleague suggested. Voting will filter ideas that don’t have majority support.

Second, use your strategic priorities to filter ideas. If you decide to focus on one strategic priority over one year, you could ask your staff to suggest relevant ideas. Any other ideas can be put on hold until you get to that specific priority.

Third, you can dedicate time to exploring new ideas. It could be the last Friday of every month or one week out of the year. During this block of time, your staff can do the necessary leg work to figure out if it's viable.

Fourth, you can manage expectations for how ideas are handled. Anyone can suggest ideas but that doesn’t mean they will occur. It depends on strategic priorities, resources and other factors. Don’t allow individuals to tell you how your organization should run.

At the end of day, all of this comes down to being able to say no. Leaders need to cultivate their ability to focus on the most important items, even if it's only one. Doing everything is a sign that a leader hasn’t said no enough. 

If all of these ideas fail, then gather your team in your boardroom and play them the video at the top of this article. Perhaps Bob Newhart can break through to them!

Ruben

If you’re not a Substack writer, you can forward the email to your friends or colleagues.

Post Summary

• This post will help you answer the most important question in succession planning: How will you know when your team is ready?

• Sabbaticals are a fantastic tool to gauge your team preparedness ahead of your stepping down

• A good sabbatical focuses on two areas: tasks for your team and tasks for yourself.

I. Making succession planning work

Look at the golden door below. The sculpture is called La Porta del Paradiso1 (Gates of Paradise) and it was crafted by Lorenzo Ghiberti—and others—between 1425 and 1452. Yes, it took him 27 years to complete the sculpture.

If you visit the Duomo in Florence, you can see a replica right there in the plaza. The original one is back in the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo, a nearby museum.

Ghiberti’s door is a metaphor for the long term future of your organization. No matter how capable you are, you will one day leave or retire. What happens when you’re gone?

Ghiberti’s door survives thanks to many of individuals who have preserved the sculpture through hundreds of years and multiple wars.

Leaders often think about succession planning in fuzzy terms. They make vague statements such as “I’ll retire in six years” or “I’ll retire when the time is right.” In this post, I want to give you a tool to help you turn the fuzziness into clarity, by answering the most important question in succession planning.2

How will you know when your team is ready?

The last thing you want to do is to step down and watch your organization grind to a halt or move in the wrong direction. Our tool, sabbaticals, will help you minimize future issues, while testing your team multiple times before you step down. Along the way, you may just find yourself next to Ghiberti’s sculpture, enjoying some gelato.

II. Sabbaticals aren't just for burned out professors.

Taking time off is sometimes a foreign concept for some leaders. Even when they go on vacation, they are still responding to emails or even worse, jumping on quick Zoom calls, all before heading out to the pool for some relaxation. 3

I'm not here to argue for work life balance. You choose how and when you work. However, when it comes to succession planning, time off is what you need to ensure that you're making progress.

University professors popularized sabbaticals (from the word Sabbath), which can range from one month to one year.  A professor on sabbatical doesn't have active duties at the university and doesn’t have to check email or jump on Zoom calls.

If you take one or two week vacations and still remain connected, you're still leading the organization. You need to see what happens in your absence. 

Let's look at the mechanics behind a well planned sabbatical.

III. Planning to jump

The minimum length to consider is one month, but you can go for longer. Imagine taking the entire summer off!

A short time frame of a month is great because you can delegate tangible tasks, instead of talking of abstract concepts such as “leadership,” or “people stepping up.”

Start by choosing the dates of your sabbatical and then spend three months preparing for it. Your preparation will occur across two categories: tasks for your team and tasks for yourself.

The first area, tasks for your team, means ensuring that your team has what they need to handle your absence. You can look at all the tasks that will take place over that one month and then provide training in the form of videos, written documents, or verbal instructions.

All of this is pretty straightforward. This is what leaders are doing when they think about succession planning, but you're going to see how effective your preparation has been with real world tasks instead of hoping that your team is ready,

The second area is the tasks for yourself. I recommend you go away somewhere as staying at home will offer too much temptation to check in on your work. I hear Florence is pleasant this time of the year! Skip the laptop and make it harder for you to cheat.

When you leave work, you may feel a “void” in your time, even if you’re surrounded by gelato and beautiful Renaissance work. This is normal and you should be ready for it. Remember that your team can handle the work because you trained them. 4

When you’re back, you can see what worked and what didn’t. Look at the issues that weren’t solved and figure out what else is needed. It could be more training, a different role or perhaps a different person altogether. The great thing is that you’re dealing with tangible tasks instead of fuzzy far away issues.

I have often written about the need for leaders to let others make their own decisions. You being away for a month provides the perfect opportunity for individuals to take ownership for their decisions and reap the rewards or gain real-world learning from their mistakes. 

You may enjoy yourself so much that you make this a recurring exercise. Perhaps you extend the length each time as you get closer to your original deadline. Once you leave forever, your team won’t be surprised by the new responsibilities.

So go ahead, take the summer off. Enjoy some gelato while preparing your team for a future without you.

Ruben