Strategy is a mess. Ask ten different CEOs what it means, and you'll get ten different answers involving spreadsheets, quarterly projections, or some vague "mission statement" gathering dust on a corporate intranet. Most people think strategy is a to-do list. It isn't.
In his latest work, This Is Strategy, Seth Godin basically tears down the idea that we can hustle our way out of a bad plan. He’s spent decades yelling into the void about permission marketing and purple cows, but this time it feels different. It’s more foundational. It’s about the "small-s" strategy that dictates whether your work actually matters or if you're just spinning wheels in the mud.
Strategy is a choice. Honestly, it’s a series of choices that most of us are too scared to make because choosing one thing means saying "no" to everything else.
The Strategy vs. Tactics Trap
We love tactics. Tactics are easy. You can buy ads, you can tweak a landing page, and you can definitely spend six hours "researching" on TikTok. Tactics feel like progress because they provide immediate feedback, like a little dopamine hit for every notification.
But This Is Strategy argues that tactics without strategy is just noise.
Think about it this way. If you’re rowing a boat as hard as you can (tactics) but you’re headed toward a waterfall (bad strategy), the harder you row, the faster you die. Godin points out that we often use tactics to hide from the terrifying reality that we don't actually know where we're going. We’re just busy. Being busy is the ultimate defense mechanism against doing the hard work of thinking.
Systems and the Games We Play
Godin talks a lot about systems. Everything is a system. The economy, your local PTA, the way people buy organic kale—these are all systems with rules, incentives, and feedback loops.
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If you want to change things, you have to understand the game you’re playing. You can't just walk onto a football field with a basketball and expect to win. Yet, that’s exactly what entrepreneurs do every single day. They try to "disrupt" an industry without understanding why the industry exists in its current form in the first place.
Empathy is the Secret Weapon
You've probably heard Seth talk about empathy before. It’s his whole thing. But in the context of strategy, empathy isn't about being "nice." It’s about realizing that other people don't see what you see, don't know what you know, and—this is the kicker—they don't want what you want.
- They have their own fears.
- They have their own status games.
- They are the heroes of their own stories.
If your strategy relies on people acting "rationally" (according to your definition of rational), you’ve already lost. Real strategy acknowledges the irrationality of the human condition. It meets people where they are, not where you wish they were.
The Four Pillars of Godin’s Strategy
Godin doesn't give you a 1-2-3-4 template because he knows templates are for people who want to outsource their thinking. However, he does lean heavily on a few core concepts that keep showing up in the book.
Time. Most strategy fails because it’s too short-term. We want the result now. But real change takes time. It requires "the long snout" of persistence. If your strategy doesn't have a timeline that allows for the system to actually react, it’s just a wish.
Games. What is the payoff? Who wins? If you’re playing a zero-sum game, your strategy has to be predatory. If you’re playing a generative game, your strategy should be collaborative. Most people are playing the wrong game for the goals they claim to have.
Empathy. Again, who is it for? If you can’t answer "who is it for?" with extreme specificity, your strategy is too broad. "Everyone" is not a target market. It’s a graveyard for marketing budgets.
Systems. You aren't just an island. You’re part of a web. When you pull a string over here, something moves over there. Strategy is about predicting those movements before they happen.
Why We Fail at Strategy
It’s the fear. Let's be real.
Making a strategic choice means you might be wrong. If you just "do your best" and work 80 hours a week, you can always blame the "market" or "bad luck" when things go south. You can say, "Well, I worked as hard as I could!"
But if you set a clear strategy—saying "We are going to be the most expensive, highest-quality option for left-handed golfers in Oregon"—and you fail? That’s on you. That’s a failure of judgment, not just effort.
Most people would rather work themselves to death than face the possibility that their judgment was wrong. This Is Strategy forces you to look at that fear. It asks if you’re brave enough to be specific.
Case Study: The Local Coffee Shop
Look at a typical local coffee shop.
Tactics: They post on Instagram. They have a loyalty card. They offer a pumpkin spice latte in October.
Strategy (or lack thereof): They are trying to compete with Starbucks on convenience, but they only have one location. They are trying to compete with the high-end roaster on quality, but they use cheap beans to save money. They are trying to be a "community hub," but they have uncomfortable chairs so people don't stay too long.
They have no strategy. They are just reacting.
A Seth Godin-style strategy for that shop might look like this: "We are the third place for local freelance writers who value silence and premium tea."
- Tactics change: You get rid of the loud blender. You install more outlets. You stop selling "fast" coffee and start selling "slow" experiences.
- The system changes: You aren't competing with Starbucks anymore. You're in a different game entirely.
The Long Game of Culture
Culture eats strategy for breakfast. Peter Drucker said it, and Seth doubles down on it.
Strategy is the tool we use to change culture. But culture is stubborn. It’s the "people like us do things like this" mentality. If your strategy requires people to change their identity overnight, it’s a bad strategy.
You have to find the "early adopters"—the people who are already looking for the change you're offering. You find the smallest viable audience. You serve them so well that they tell their friends. That’s how the culture shifts.
It’s not a "viral" explosion. It’s a slow, steady drip.
Actionable Steps for Your Own Strategy
Stop doing. Start thinking. Just for an hour.
- Identify the system. Draw it out. Who are the players? What do they want? What are the unwritten rules of the industry you're in?
- Name the "Who." Be painfully specific. If you can't describe your ideal customer's specific fear or aspiration, you don't know them well enough.
- Check your time horizon. Are you expecting a strategic shift to pay off in a week? If so, it’s a tactic. Real strategy usually takes longer than your bank account or your ego wants it to.
- Acknowledge the trade-offs. What are you not doing? If your "strategy" doesn't involve sacrifice, it’s just a list of dreams.
- Look for the leverage. Where can a small amount of effort create a disproportionate change in the system? Usually, this is at the edges, not in the middle where everyone else is fighting.
Strategy is a practice. It’s not a document you write once and file away. It’s a way of looking at the world that assumes you have agency. You aren't just a victim of the market. You are a participant in a system, and you have the power to change it—if you’re willing to make a choice.
The most important thing to remember from This Is Strategy is that "doing more" is rarely the answer. Most of the time, the answer is "doing something different." And that requires the courage to stop rowing for a second and look at the map.
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Take a hard look at your current project. Ask yourself: If I couldn't use any of my current tactics—no ads, no social media, no cold calls—would my strategy still hold up? If the answer is no, you don't have a strategy. You have a habit. Break it. Change the game by choosing to play a different one. Focus on the tension you're creating and the change you're seeking to make in the world. That’s where the real work begins.