Strategy
Discussing strategy, in any area
vaughn tan
@vt
Anthropic’s experiment with using Claude as an autonomous shopkeeper (“Claudius”) failed — not just because the AI was gullible, but because running even a simple business involves inherently human, meaning-making decisions. Doing business isn’t just executing tasks like pricing or inventory. It’s deciding what matters, what to trade off, and what success looks like. These are subjective choices without correct answers. Until AI systems can make meaning, they shouldn’t be tasked with running businesses on their own. The real question isn’t whether an AI is gullible, but whether the work requires meaning-making. If it does, that work must remain human. More here: https://vaughntan.org/bizmeaningmaking
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vaughn tan
@vt
taking tiger mountain (by strategy) is so good and it was the genesis of the oblique strategies which also inspired www.productivediscomfort.org /music
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tyler ↑
@trh
Been thinking about this thread a bit. The reframe from "what do my customers want?" to "how can I recombine my assets?" is a difficult step to take, but can unlock some interesting possibilities. The likely problem here is that all the players are too entrenched to make something this unconventional happen. https://x.com/kyalbr/status/1935911335768047853
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vaughn tan
@vt
oop forgot to put this in /strategy
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vaughn tan
@vt
i wrote about how Big Org Problems are decomposable, and how working through tradeoffs helps unblock Big Problems and make them more tractable: https://vaughntan.org/decomposableproblems
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vaughn tan
@vt
the push to "productise" or be "product-centric" makes companies forget that products and services aren't the same thing, and can't be delivered the same way. i suggest some ways to think more productively and strategically (🥁) about the differences between products and services: https://vaughntan.org/prodsvc
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Leo
@lsn
https://warpcast.com/0xantidote.eth/0x3d9f63ef
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tyler ↑
@trh
This is an unreal list. If this is “Basic” then I have a very, very long way to go. https://strategeion.substack.com/p/a-strategists-basic-bookshelf
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vaughn tan
@vt
what is the minimum viable experiment? https://vaughntan.org/betterexperiments
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vaughn tan
@vt
Innovation stalls when we treat uncertainty like risk. In my latest article, I share a 4-day program helping public sector teams embrace uncertainty as a strategic resource—not a threat to be planned away. Ready to transform policy work in your govt? https://vaughntan.org/transformpolicy
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vaughn tan
@vt
Strategy ≠ planning. Efficiency ≠ resilience. Interviews ≠ casual chats. AI ≠ meaningmaking. Grab bag of ideas on how we get it wrong — and how to get it right. 👉 https://uncertaintymindset.substack.com/p/gbw1425
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vaughn tan
@vt
The FT's new piece on economic uncertainty gives me another opp to point out that uncertainty /= risk: https://vaughntan.org/uncertaintyrisk and the consequences of mistaking uncertainty for risk: https://vaughntan.org/the-consequences-of-mindset-mismatch and why it's valuable to understand the difference: https://uncertaintymindset.org/ Here's the FT piece: https://www.ft.com/content/26d15d7e-dd36-4ca1-b974-da8a57bce290
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vaughn tan
@vt
hello hello economists and finance types who believe that uncertainties are modelable just curious: are you doing your decisionmaking in the current market situation one using cost-benefit analysis? what about expected value calculations? asking for a friend
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vaughn tan
@vt
Public sector orgs don’t just need efficiency and planning — they need strategy, resilience, and the right kind of slack. Read more here: https://vaughntan.org/efficiencytrap
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vaughn tan
@vt
i've been writing + consulting about how uncertainty is different from risk for almost 20 yrs. we're going through a profound reordering now and it must be interpreted + acted on as uncertainty, not as risk. risk-management doesn't work when everything is cray. https://vaughntan.org/uncertaintyrisk
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