Mark Chussil

Innovative, powerful, proven approaches to business war games, strategy simulation, and strategic thinking

ACS on Harvard Business Review

Harvard Business Review (HBR.org) has posted essays by ACS’ Mark Chussil. Here are links.

Uber: Or, What’s Kosher in Competing?

Two takes on Uber and its high-profile, highly controversial tactics. Who’s the bad guy, Uber, Lyft, or the media?

Tripling Sales: A Conflict

The outcome was not only to resolve the classic conflict of top-management stretch goals versus product-management practicality. It was also to preclude the equally classic conflict that comes later, the one about underperforming versus overexpecting.

Secrets of Success

A tool, technique, datum, secret, or incantation may bring you momentary triumph. A momentary triumph isn’t chopped liver but it also isn’t success. Best practices are practices, in the sense of disciplines, expertise, and self-leadership, that you use to create the success you want.

Death by Shark

Your odds of dying as the result of an unprovoked shark attack are roughly 1 in 300,000,000 in the USA. The odds are more than 20 times higher in Australia. Therefore, if you don’t want to be killed by a shark, you should flee Australia immediately for the USA. It’s safer here, except maybe for the gun thing.

Penney Wise, Penney Foolish

J.C. Penney doesn’t have the performance it wants, Mr. Johnson has been tarred and “pundited” as a failure, employees and investors are dispirited, and customers are baffled. Help wanted: CEO.

The Art of War-Gaming

Many executives unconsciously assume competitors have MBAs and behave “rationally.” Those assumptions were never true, but today it matters that they’re not true. It will matter even more in a more-global tomorrow.

Paying for Bad News #1: Closed Minds

I’m not saying the Closed Minds, Distorted Markets, and Stormy World themes are wrong. I am saying I don’t think the evidence establishes they’re right. They might be right, but they’re not right yet. Until they are right I believe it’s worth considering other perspectives.

Paying for Bad News #3: Stormy World

I’m not saying the Closed Minds, Distorted Markets, and Stormy World themes are wrong. I am saying I don’t think the evidence establishes they’re right. They might be right, but they aren’t right yet. Until they are right I believe it’s worth considering other perspectives.

Paying for Bad News #4: Beyond The Themes

I’m not saying the Closed Minds, Distorted Markets, and Stormy World themes are wrong. I am saying I don’t think the evidence establishes they’re right. They might be right, but they aren’t right yet. Until they are right I believe it’s worth considering other perspectives.