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The author is silly to conclude that strategy is useless because Monitor failed. Sustainable advantages are absolutely real (think any network effects business:

The author is silly to conclude that strategy is useless because Monitor failed. Sustainable advantages are absolutely real (think any network effects business: Dropbox, Airbnb, Craigslist, eBay). But they're also rare, and baked-in from the beginning. Monitor's actual flaws: (a) a consulting business can't capture the value of a successful strategy, they collect only fees, and (b) the sorts of customers who are willing to pay for big ticket consulting projects are big sprawling businesses for whom it's far too late to identify an effective strategy.

Maven911 14y ago
Well as i learnt in my strategy class, EverY business should have a strategy, whether its consulting, or even a small one person web dev shop
mtgx 14y ago
The Porter model also sounds like it would help you develop myopia regarding disruptive innovations, because it would make you too focused on how to fight against direct competitors and gain incremental advantages against them.
- SiVal 14y ago
  Not true. One of his five forces was the threat of substitution. In other words, while many businesses are focused on their direct rivals, they don't notice the looming alternatives that could make them and their direct competitors irrelevant. A Porter-style 5-forces analysis would REQUIRE the business to broaden its view of competitive threats.
  - mtgx 14y ago
    Subtitutes may not even be half-way there in understanding disruptions, though. Water or soda are substitutes for beer, but that doesn't mean they are disruptive. In some cases, they can be. Like blogs vs newspapers. But in most cases, substitutes don't refer to disruptive innovations, that's why I think it's not even "half way there". Which means it's putting too little focus on disruptions, when disruptions can literally kill your company, no matter how big it is, within 10 years of appearing.

Maven911 14y ago

Well as i learnt in my strategy class, EverY business should have a strategy, whether its consulting, or even a small one person web dev shop

mtgx 14y ago

The Porter model also sounds like it would help you develop myopia regarding disruptive innovations, because it would make you too focused on how to fight against direct competitors and gain incremental advantages against them.

SiVal 14y ago
Not true. One of his five forces was the threat of substitution. In other words, while many businesses are focused on their direct rivals, they don't notice the looming alternatives that could make them and their direct competitors irrelevant. A Porter-style 5-forces analysis would REQUIRE the business to broaden its view of competitive threats.
- mtgx 14y ago
  Subtitutes may not even be half-way there in understanding disruptions, though. Water or soda are substitutes for beer, but that doesn't mean they are disruptive. In some cases, they can be. Like blogs vs newspapers. But in most cases, substitutes don't refer to disruptive innovations, that's why I think it's not even "half way there". Which means it's putting too little focus on disruptions, when disruptions can literally kill your company, no matter how big it is, within 10 years of appearing.