The document is a compilation of quotes and thoughts from various influential figures on the importance of strategy and organization in achieving success. It emphasizes that strategy must be adaptive and aligned with both character and capabilities, while also highlighting the interplay between planning and execution. Ultimately, the essence of strategy is about differentiation in a competitive landscape and the need for thoughtful action.

1. Collected and collated by Performance People Pty Ltd www.performancepeople.com.au Graphic by www.wordle.com

2. All men can see these tactics whereby I conquer, but what none can see is the strategy out of which victory is evolved. Sun Tzu

3. In McKinsey's world, all of life is one of two things: strategy or organization. Tom Peters

4. Strategy without process is little more than a wish list. Robert Filek

5. The first strategy of war is an armed force that is fully mobilized and consumed with the desire to win. Without that, all other strategies are vain. Napoleon Bonaparte

6. What is the aim or purpose of strategy? To improve our ability to shape and adapt to unfolding circumstances, so that we … can survive on our own terms. John R. Boyd, USAF

7. Strategy is not the consequence of planning, but the opposite: its starting point. Henry Mintzberg

8. Perception is strong and sight weak. In strategy it is important to see distant things as if they were close and to take a distanced view of close things. Miyamoto Musashi, 1584? – 1645

9. Leadership is a potent combination of strategy and character. But if you must be without one, be without the strategy. Norman Schwarzkopf

10. However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results. Winston Churchill

11. Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat. Sun Tzu

12. A satisfied customer is the best business strategy of all. Michael Leboeuf

13. You have to be fast on your feet and adaptive or else a strategy is useless. Charles De Gaulle

14. The recognition of the tension between values and numbers is the first requirement of the strategic manager, and it is the effective reconciliation of that tension that marks a great manager. Harold Evans

15. Consistent alignment of capabilities and internal processes with the customer value proposition is the core of any strategy execution. Robert S. Kaplan

16. Strategy is about setting yourself apart from the competition. It’s not a matter of being better at what you do – it’s a matter of being different at what you do. Michael Porter

17. Not everything that can be counted counts and not everything that counts can be counted. Albert Einstein

18. A dream is just a dream. A goal is a dream with a plan and a deadline. Harvey Mackay

19. Whatever failures I have known, whatever errors I have committed, whatever follies I have witnessed in private and public life have been the consequence of action without thought. Bernard M. Baruch

20. It's not the plan that is important, it's the planning. Graeme Edwards

21. It is important not to ignore forecasts that are uncongenial. Jib Fowles

22. We must ask where we are and whither we are tending. Abraham Lincoln

23. Organizing is what you do before you do something, so that when you do it, it is not all mixed up. A. A. Milne