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Strategos--An ancient Greek word translates literally as "the General's art".
From the ancient Greek, through military to modern business usage, the word retains much of its
original meaning--
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Decisions and actions with long-term and
wide-ranging consequences.
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Pinpointing vulnerabilities in the competitors'
position.
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Exploiting resources and deployment relative to
competitors.
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Using topography, and technology for advantage.
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Finding niches in the marketplace.
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Carl von Clausewitz
Thus, then, in Strategy everything is very simple, but not on that account very easy.
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Principles of War
Two basic principles...underlie all strategic planning. . . .
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The first principle is: act with the utmost concentration [trace the ultimate substance
of enemy strength to the fewest possible sources; compress the attack on these sources to
the fewest possible actions; and subordinate minor actions as much as possible].
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The second principle is: act with the utmost speed [every unnecessary expenditure of time
and every unnecessary detour is a waste of strength; take the shortest possible road to the
goal]."
The first task, then, in planning for a war is to identify the enemy's
center of gravity, and if possible trace it back to a single one. The second task is to ensure
that the forces to be used against that point are concentrated for a main offensive.
--Carl von Clausewitz
"Clausewitz's military center of gravity (CoG) and the
CoG of mechanical sciences share many of the same properties: neither is a strength or a source
of strength, per se, but rather a focal point where physical (and psychological) forces come
together."
--Lt. Col. Antulio J. Echevarria
U.S. Army
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