Richard Rumelt

Good strategy requires leaders who are willing and able to say no to a wide variety of actions and interests. Strategy is at least as much about what an organization does not do as it is about what it does

In general, strategic leverage arises from a mixture of anticipation, insight into what is most pivotal or critical in a situation, and making a concentrated application of effort.

The strategist may have insight into predictable aspects of others’ behavior that can be turned to advantage. At the simplest level, a strategy of investing in Manhattan real estate is based on the anticipation that other people’s future demand for this real estate will raise its value. In competitive strategy, the key anticipations are often of buyer demand and competitive reactions.