The Origin Story of Strategy

How can leaders develop strategies that adapt to uncertainty and avoid the pitfalls of overconfidence?

In this episode of the Strategic Minds Podcast, Rich sits down with Professor Sir Lawrence Freedman — Emeritus Professor of War Studies at King’s College London and one of the world’s leading scholars on strategy, international relations, and military history. Knighted for his contributions and the official historian of the Falklands Campaign, Sir Lawrence has authored seminal works including Strategy: A History, The Future of War, and The Evolution of Nuclear Strategy.

In this wide-ranging conversation, he shares insights on:

How strategy is more than a plan — and why it’s a continuous, iterative process
Why understanding your adversaries and allies is as important in business as in war
The dangers of hubris, overextension, and failing to listen to dissenting voices
How leaders can recognize when to adapt or reverse course without losing momentum

Sir Lawrence also offers timeless lessons for business leaders on reading context, anticipating friction, and practicing strategic empathy.

Other Viewing Options:

Key Quotes

“Strategy is one of those things that you do without calling it strategy. So if people at any time are working out how to achieve what they want to achieve and looking at the means available, they’re engaging in strategy.”

“It’s easier to have a good strategy if you’ve got resources, much harder if you don’t have resources, which is why, incidentally, a lot of the most ingenious strategic thinkers have been underdogs because they really needed to work at it.”

“The thing about strategy is it’s a continual process. So I kind of talk about it as a sort of soap opera rather than a three-act play. You don’t suddenly say, now I’m done.”

“If you look at why military strategy fails most, it’s because of underestimation of your adversaries.”

“Most strategy, let’s say 50% of strategy is defensive. I don’t know how much that’s taught in business schools, but that’s the way in practice a lot of it’s gonna work because you’re just being caught out. So it’s against the ability to read situations.”

Practice Makes Profit

Rich shares a practical exercise for conducting a meeting audit — helping leaders reclaim time and improve organizational efficiency by aligning meetings with strategic purpose.

League of Strategic Minds

Listener Question: What are the keys to leading a truly strategic meeting?

Rich outlines the importance of clear agendas, pre-work, interactive dialogue, and actionable takeaways to transform standard meetings into value-creating sessions.

Winsights: Ideas for Advantage

Michael Porter reminds us:

“It’s healthy for people to disagree, but there comes a time when discussion ends. Strategy is about picking a direction and getting everybody really excited about it.” Leaders who decide decisively and align teams behind a clear direction outperform those who linger in consensus-building.

References

Time stamps:

(00:00) Deep Dive Interview with Sir Lawrence Freedman

(54:35) Practice Makes Profit

(56:23) League of Strategic Minds

(58:43) Winsights, Ideas for Advantage

Links

Submit a question for Rich to the League of Strategic Minds

Sir Lawrence Freedman on Substack

Rich Horwath on LinkedIn
Rich Horwath on YouTube
Rich Horwath on Instagram
Strategic Thinking Institute Website
Inc. Magazine’s Top 4 book for 2024: STRATEGIC Book
New executive development platform: Strategic Fitness System
Sign up for Rich’s free Strategic Thinker Newsletter

About the Guest

Sir Lawrence Freedman
Emeritus Professor of War Studies at King’s College London

A leading scholar on strategy, international relations, and military history

Substack

About the Host

Rich Horwath, Founder & CEO
Strategic Thinking Institute

Rich is a New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of eight books on strategic thinking, including his most recent work, STRATEGIC, which was named a “top 4 must-read business book for 2024” by Inc. Magazine, and a national bestseller by USA TODAY. He has been the top rated keynote speaker on strategic thinking at national conferences for nearly 20 years.

This Episode Brought to You by the Strategic Thinking Institute

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The Strategic Thinking Institute has developed hundreds of resources to help leaders at all levels think, plan, and act strategically. In addition to facilitating workshops and strategic coaching with executive leadership teams, STI has assessments and products for functional groups such as sales, marketing, finance, human resources, operations, information technology, account management, business development, accounting, clinical, medical, and other technical specialties. STI’s experience in a wide range of industries brings your team the best-of-breed practices and resources to enable your team to outthink and outperform the competition. Remember, be strategic … or be gone.

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Strategic Minds Podcast: Episode 19 – The Origin Story of Strategy