"This book will be the first to introduce formally, authoritatively, and convincingly the notion of strategic intuition to the business and finance communities. All strategic leaders can benefit immensely from it.--Douglas C. Lovelace, Senior National Security Strategist.

Good ideas come to us as flashes of insight, and recent brain science reveals how they work. This leads to a new frontier in strategic thinking: we now understand how strategy forms in a strategist's mind. This new knowledge overturns conventional wisdom on competitive strategy, strategic planning, innovation, brainstorming, creativity, the scientific method, and other common notions about where good ideas come from. The result is a new discipline - called strategic intuition - that cuts across the various fields of strategic thinking: business strategy, classical military strategy, Asian philosophy, the history of science, cognitive psychology, and strategic education. Strategic intuition is very different from ordinary intuition, like vague hunches or gut instinct. Ordinary intuition is a form of emotion: it's feeling, not thinking. Strategic intuition is the opposite: it's thinking, not feeling. A flash of insight cuts through the fog with a clear, shining thought.Strategic intuition is also different from expert intuition: the snap judgments where the mind jumps to a quick conclusion by seeing something familiar. In Blink , Malcolm Gladwell brought research on expert intuition to the attention of a wider audience. This book does the same for strategic intuition. Expert intuition is always fast, and it works only in familiar situations. Strategic intuition is slower and works for new situations, which is when you need it most. Duggan shows how strategic intuition lies at the heart of great achievements throughout human history: the scientific revolution, the computer revolution, women's suffrage, the civil rights movement, modern art, microfinance in poor countries, and more. From Bill Gates to Google, Copernicus to Martin Luther King, Picasso to Patton; you'll never think the same way about strategy again.

• Preface 1. Flash Vs. Blink: An Introduction to Strategic Intuition 2. Revolution on Earth: Flashers of Insight in Scientific Discovery 3. Two Halves of a Brain: Intelligent Memory in Neuroscience 4. Lieutenant M Saves Your Life: Expert Intuition in Action 5. The Corsican Conquers Europe: Coup d'Oeil in Classical Military Strategy 6. Warrior Buddha: The Path to Beginner's Mind 7. Gates and the Google Guys: Strategic Innovation in Business 8. Mouse, Minister and Moneylender: The Art of What Works in Social Enterprise 9. Picasso Dines with an African Sculpture: Creative Combination in the Profession 10. Do We Do Dewey? Teaching Strategic Intuition 11. Kennedy Shoots for the Moon: Progress Through Opportunity Appendix: Strategic Intuition Online

This book might just change how you look at human thought and strategy, and influence how you organize yourself and your team strategically. -- 800-CEO-Read