Short excerpt of a talk by Jim Johnson explaining the difference between strategy and tactics. He uses Desert Storm—specifically the "shock and awe" campaign—as an example to show that strategy can be an overarching plan not visible until executed, while tactics are the actions that implement that strategy; he applies the distinction to contractor/owner decision-making.
And what most people think of as strategy, they're really talking about tactics. Think of it in terms of, we'll take Desert Storm, for example. But the strategy was a thing that nobody saw until after it had happened. And that strategy was shock and awe. This is just so much more power than we can possibly withstand. And those tactics helped execute that strategy. But, but that's really the key to strategy. And so as you're developing what you're going to do as a contractor, we as owners are thinking about this all the time. And so let's say that your strategy would be along the lines of just mass putting people out there.
