Rise of the Neostrategist: A New Paradigm for the Age of Complexity
Abstract
A general theory of strategy (i.e., abstract strategy) has endured since the 18th century. It posits that strategy is the reconciliation of ends and means in order to determine the ways. Inductively, this paradigm was consistently proven valid and strong for over two hundred years, and thus labelled enduring, by luminary military strategists from Carl von Clausewitz to Colin S. Gray. Yet, as this paper will prove, strategy fundamentally assumes a system is deterministic and thus fails to properly account for the ramifications of complexity. As a result, a new paradigm is proposed: neostrategy. Just like the observation of one black swan proves that not all swans are white, neostrategy highlights that strategy is not always useful nor is it enduring. Borrowing from the works of Kenneth O. Stanley, Joel Lehman, and Yaneer Bar-Yam, neostrategy offers planners an alternative to the traditional, objective-seeking strategy that we are so familiar with and instead proposes a strategy of novelty for some cases. In the process, this paper explains that some objectives, such as organizational innovation, are intrinsically uncertain and thus better served by a strategy of novelty instead of objective.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 03, 2018
- Accession Number
- AD1057888
Entities
People
- Noah J. Komnick
Organizations
- Naval War College