Strategy Is What We Do, Not What We Have: Donald MacLean On Emergence, Emotion, And Execution Strategy Meets Reality podcast

Strategy Is What We Do, Not What We Have: Donald MacLean on Emergence, Emotion, and Execution

3d ago 57:59

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Most strategy documents belong in a drawer. Real strategy is lived, spoken, and constantly adapted.

In this episode of Strategy Meets Reality, Mike Jones is joined by Professor Donald MacLean—physicist, strategist, and founder of Strategy Story—to unpack what makes strategy real, why we confuse it with policy and vision, and how governance is quietly killing adaptability.

Donald shares why strategy is emotional before it’s intellectual, why leadership is about enabling sensemaking, and why conversation—not control—is the engine of execution.

🔍 In this episode:

Why real strategy is spoken, not written
The difference between policy, vision, and strategy
Why governance often strangles adaptability
The human side of strategic commitment
How to re-personalise strategy without dumbing it down
What Clausewitz, Sun Tzu, and football managers have in common

🎧 Keywords: Emergent Strategy, Governance, Strategic Execution, Complexity, Systems Thinking, Organisational Design, Engagement, Clausewitz, Storytelling, Open Strategy

📬 Connect with Donald: https://www.linkedin.com/in/professordonaldmaclean/
Send Mike a Message

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🔗 Full episodes, show notes, and resources: https://www.lbiconsulting.com/strategymeetsreality-podcast

📺 Watch on YouTube → https://www.youtube.com/@StrategyMeetsReality
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💬 Connect with host Mike Jones → https://www.linkedin.com/in/mike-h-jones/

Chapters

1. Introduction to Donald MacLean (00:00:00)

2. Emergent Strategy vs Traditional Planning (00:03:32)

3. The Role of Conversation in Strategy (00:05:57)

4. Navigating Uncertainty in Strategy (00:09:35)

5. The Challenge of Defining Strategy (00:12:44)

6. The Importance of Organisational Structure (00:16:50)

7. The Role of Consultants in Strategy (00:22:18)

8. The Historical Context of Strategy (00:25:42)

9. Collaboration, Competition, and Platforms (00:30:41)

10. The Strangulation of Modern Governance (00:34:03)

11. Re-personalising Strategy (00:39:35)

12. The Attention Economy and Strategy (00:48:44)

13. Final Reflections (00:57:33)

23 episodes