Richard Rumelt

Good strategy requires leaders who are willing and able to say no to a wide variety of actions and interests. Strategy is at least as much about what an organization does not do as it is about what it does

IKEA teaches us that in building sustained strategic advantage, talented leaders seek to create constellations of activities that are chain-linked. This adds extra effectiveness to the strategy and makes competitive imitation difficult. What is especially fascinating is that both excellence and being stuck are reflections of chain-link logic.
In the case of excellence, like IKEA, a series of chain-linked activities are all maintained at a high level of quality, each benefiting from the quality of the other and the whole being resistant to easy imitation. On the other hand, when a series of chain-linked activities are of low quality, as in General Motors circa 2007, the system can be stuck, because there is little gain to improving only a fraction of the activities.

personal command. From Roman historians, we learn that Hannibal was considered noble and admired by all who met him, even Romans. Beyond that, we know almost nothing of his interpersonal abilities or methods. In particular, one wonders at how he persuaded the Gauls and Spaniards in his central arc to stage a mock retreat, an action that these men would have viewed as expensive in both blood and honor. We do not know.
However, what we do see in the story of Cannae are three aspects of strategy in bold relief, presented in their purest and most essential forms—premeditation, the anticipation of others’ behavior, and the purposeful design of coordinated actions.
Premeditation
Cannae was not an improvisation; it was designed and planned in advance. Hannibal executed such choreographed strategies not just once, but many times in his years of war with Rome. There are furious debates over the best balance, in a strategy, between prior guidance and on-the-spot adaptation and improvisation, but there is always some form of prior guidance. By definition, winging it is not a strategy.
Anticipation
A fundamental ingredient in a strategy is a judgment or anticipation concerning the thoughts and/or behavior of others.