X : Did you know that the Chinese military delivered food and medical supplies in locked down areas?
Me : Yes but I recently learned that it was expected, such is the trust within their Gov.
X : Expected?
Me : Yes. Hence the confusion over locked down in the US.
X : Eh?
Me : So, what I didn't realise is that when US started to lock down, there was an assumption in Chinese commentators that food and medical supplies would be delivered by the US Gov to those homes locked down because ... well, that's what you do obviously.
X : Really?
Me : Yes.
Me : A friend of mine just pointed this out. I knew the sense of community is very different in China than the US which is more a collective as in gang of "individuals" rather than a community. I didn't appreciate how much it contributed to misunderstanding.
Me : There's a much greater emphasis on community and equality in China than in the US which is more focused on individualism and materialsm.
X : Equality is a core value in the US.
Me : Hmmm, only in the sense that my dollar is as good as your dollar.
X : Do you agree with communism?
Me : No. I agree with using mixed economic tools as per China's approach but we're talking values here (i.e. beliefs) and not economic systems.
X : You agree with China's values?
Me : No but we can learn something from it and question our own.
Me : We still need to have that Me vs We discussion in the UK. It's quite clear that we need that national conversation on values especially since our political Government seems to be giving up on integrity, fairness and respect for the law.
X : What about the Uyghurs?
Me : Well, that is exactly why I don't agree with China's values and we should continue our efforts demanding unfettered access for UN representatives.
X : What values should we learn from China?
Me : Well, to answer that would be as an individual and maybe the value we most need is more collectivism. Maybe not. Either way, the only sensible answer you well get is from a citizens assembly. We should do that.
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X : Our strategy doesn't align with our business.
Me : How do you mean?
X : We create these strategy documents but they never really get implemented as the day to day business takes over.
Me : That's common. Can I ask a question?
X : Sure
Me : ...
Me : Do you map?
X : I've heard of your technique but we don't use it.
Me : Ok, so your business operations is not based upon a map of the landscape?
X : No
Me : And your strategy is not based upon a map of the landscape?
X : No
Me : What made you think they would align?
X : They are supposed to align and we wrote our strategy on our understanding of the business.
Me : Your wrote your strategy based upon stories. There's no means to create a consensus of your landscape, to challenge what your are doing. There is no mechanism for alignment.
X : Why do you continue to use twitter / X?
Me : Because I like the tool and the crowd.
X : Do you support @elonmusk
Me : No. I disagree on many of his views.
X : He is far right.
Me : Perspective matters. US is generally more right wing & Silicon Valley especially so.
X : What do you mean by "Perspective matters"?
Me : Elon's views are not that unusual for Silicon Valley - . There's a lot of support based upon a different view of economics and government.
X : Different?
Me : Different from Europe. cbsnews.com/news/trump-jd-…
X : People should just accept it?
Me : No. They should argue against it. The "left" did itself no favours by diluting its voice across multiple platforms.
X : Are you left?
Me : I view the market as tool to be used in the common interest of society. I'm a socialist.
X : What do you need to do in order to map a business?
Me : Ask ... 1) "Who are the users?" (at the least, include consumers and the business) 2) "What are their needs?" 3) "What is the chain of components required to meet those needs?" 4) "How evolved are those components?"
...
Me : Once you have done that, allow others to challenge it. Even better, build the map with others. It really is that simple.
X : But creating a map is difficult.
Me : Only to those used to making decisions without understanding users, needs, the supply chain etc.
X : How common is that?
Me : In business? The majority of decisions tend to be made with no understanding of users, needs, supply chain and how evolved those components are. We tend to rely on gut feel and stories with little to no effective challenge.
dX: How do you deal with strategy?
Me: First, we need to answer the Where question, which depends a lot on the what and why.
dX: And?
Me: Ok, some very simple steps ...
Step 1: Visualise your environment. That means getting people to discuss, collaborate & challenge in order to create a "good enough" map of your environment. Should be a couple of hours.
Step 2: Look at what's changing which is competitor moves, your moves & economic patterns.
Step 3: Using the map, determine where you could invest/focus on. You're not making a decision yet, you just want the options. By now, you could have spent four hours on the exercise.
Step 4: Decide where you should invest i.e. look at the options using why & what
Those born in the 1890s experienced electrification, telephone, radio, television, nuclear age, penicillin, two world wars, commercial flight, computer age and a moon landing. By the 60s we had AI, VR and 3D printing.
Today, we have the internet / www and have improved stuff.
Is it me, or is human progress slowing down? Great breakthroughs, moments of change, and radical transformations seem like a thing of the past. What we call "revolutions" in industry today seems mostly a marketing slogan.
If you think back to 1957 and the Mark I Perceptron machine that was built at Cornell, then consider the changes in the previous 60 years ... you can't help but think they would be bitterly disappointed with how slow we have progressed in the following 60 years.
We will be entering a phase in which the US high-tech industry (including the military complex) is highly dependent upon China, whilst China is not dependent upon the US.
For those who doubt how clear the intentions were ... go read Made in China, 2025.
China's government made its intentions evident in 2015. The US sabre rattling of sanctions reinforced that purpose whilst the US essentially continued with a misguided "market knows best" policy.