Why strategic theory needs practical checks

How often do you have to be the adult in the room in academic work or consulting?

Checks against war games, exercises, real events, and history can expose problems in prolonged theoretical debate.

Dr. Clarke recalls joining a consulting meeting by video while boarding his loft and timing 15 minutes of theoretical argument without a reference to an exercise, war game, real event, or historical case. Theory has value, but building one assumption on another without checks leaves more variables unknown. He illustrated the problem by contrasting drilling by feel with measuring first, including checking for hidden pipework. Testing strategic reasoning against evidence provides a check before its conclusions are used.