Strategy Meets Reality Podcast Strategy Is What We Do, Not What We Have: Donald MacLean on Emergence, Emotion, and Execution
Most strategy documents belong in a drawer. Real strategy is lived, spoken, and constantly adapted.
In this episode of Strategy Meets Reality, Mike Jones is joined by Professor Donald MacLean—physicist, strategist, and founder of Strategy Story—to unpack what makes strategy real, why we confuse it with policy and vision, and how governance is quietly killing adaptability.
Donald shares why strategy is emotional before it’s intellectual, why leadership is about enabling sensemaking, and why conversation—not control—is the engine of execution.
🔍 In this episode:
- Why real strategy is spoken, not written
- The difference between policy, vision, and strategy
- Why governance often strangles adaptability
- The human side of strategic commitment
- How to re-personalise strategy without dumbing it down
- What Clausewitz, Sun Tzu, and football managers have in common
🎧 Keywords: Emergent Strategy, Governance, Strategic Execution, Complexity, Systems Thinking, Organisational Design, Engagement, Clausewitz, Storytelling, Open Strategy
📬 Connect with Donald: https://www.linkedin.com/in/professordonaldmaclean/
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🔗 Full episodes, show notes, and resources: https://www.lbiconsulting.com/strategymeetsreality-podcast
📺 Watch on YouTube → https://www.youtube.com/@StrategyMeetsReality
🎧 Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Buzzsprout
💬 Connect with host Mike Jones → https://www.linkedin.com/in/mike-h-jones/