90% of strategies are actually budgets and stories.
Roger Martin, one of the world's most influential strategic thinkers, says so. And he's right. Most companies sit down, write a strategic plan for five years ahead -- and then never open it. That's not a strategy. That's a way to lose money.
A strategy is not a plan. It's not a documentary. And it's certainly not something you do once a year.
I'm writing a book
For the past 10 years, at House of Cutter, we have searched and tested various strategic tools. For myself and for clients. Tools that help to think about business at a time when everything is changing.
There is no name for the book yet. At the moment, there is only a rough shot, and in it 9 habits. In it, I describe practical tools to help you make better decisions. I'm not saying “strategic planning”. I say habits. Because a strategy is not a document. It's the way you think and act every day.
What's in the book
1️⃣ What's happening in the AI world — and how it affects your work and business
2️⃣ Set goals — distinguish outputs, results and impacts
3️⃣ Understand the people out there — find out what customers really need
4️⃣ Map the situation — understand the playing field and the game you are playing
5️⃣ Strengthen collaboration — Build a team that can handle change
6️⃣ Dig a trench — protect yourself from competition
7️⃣ Solve the essentials — stop wasting energy
8️⃣ Decide according to the situation — choose the right course of action in uncertainty
9️⃣ Validate ideas — find out cheaply if your idea works
🔟 Work from the present — link strategy to what you will do tomorrow
Looking for an opponent
Because opposition creates quality. I need feedback.
👉 I'm looking for the first readers to get a book read over easter and they tell me what works and what doesn't. It's not that long.
👉 I wonder if the text is readable, understandable and useful.
👉 I don't need proofreading. I need opponent.
You need the time and the appetite to read a potentially challenging text. We will send you an invitation to a document that you will comment on. There will be a maximum of twenty of you.
I want to be the first reader.
If things go well, we'll christen the book in the fall and the opponents will be there.
And if you don't want to wait for a book
One of the nine habits is “Understand the people out there”. Find out what customers really need -- not what they say in the questionnaire.
April 8 + 16 we organize training Customer research and sense-making. Two online afternoons. You will learn to conduct research interviews in depth and make sense of the data obtained. Alone, in a group and with the help of AI.
For designers, marketers and anyone who doesn't want to come up with ideas blindly.
Meet me on X4B?
Experience our lead designer and validation of ideas in practice. April 23, 2026 in Prague →
“Decisions has a record of the power structures and the feedback loops that got it there.”
-- Andrew Harmel-Law
Reading for the weekend
Mitchell Hashimoto describes his journey to using AI. Or if you only have experience with ChatGPT, you only see a few percent of the puzzle.
