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A lot of organizations and individuals will set some\xa0aim for themselves, and then, when they reach the point where they should be seeing progress, but don't, seem surprised\xa0that things haven't worked out the way they hoped. They shouldn't be surprised, my guest would say, if they never had a\xa0strategy\xa0in place for reaching their goals.\xa0\n\n\nHis name is Stanley K. Ridgley, he's a former military intelligence officer, a professor of business, and the lecturer of The Great Courses course,\xa0Strategic\xa0Thinking\xa0Skills. Today on the show, Stanley explains why\xa0strategy, whether implemented in business, the military, or your personal life, is so important when it comes to dealing with uncertainty, making decisions, winning competitions, and getting\xa0to where you want to go. He first explains why following "best practices" is not the same thing as following a\xa0strategy, and how real\xa0strategy\xa0is a cycle of mission-setting, analysis, and execution\xa0that never ends. He unpacks what\xa0strategic\xa0intent is, and why it's so important to be clear on yours. We then discuss two main approaches to\xa0strategy\xa0\u2014\xa0cost leadership\xa0and differentiation, and why you need to adopt the latter in your own life, and stop treating yourself like a commodity. We also get into why indirect attacks on competitors can be more effective than frontal\xa0assaults, where people go wrong when it comes to the execution of their\xa0strategy, and the role that intuition\xa0plays for the master strategist. We end our conversation\xa0with what you can start doing today for five minutes in the morning to get closer to your goals. Along the way, Stanley gives examples from both war and business on how\xa0the art of\xa0strategy\xa0works in the field.