What Is the Strategic Value of Tic Tac Toe?

Tic Tac Toe is a solved game, meaning optimal play guarantees you never lose. Strategy in business follows the same principle: the leader who sees the board clearly makes better decisions.

While many executives get lost in complexity, over analysis, and endless iterations, the best leaders understand that strategic clarity, like Tic Tac Toe, is about seeing the essential moves and executing them flawlessly.

The next time you're facing a complex business decision, ask yourself: "What's my centre square?" What's the one move that creates the most leverage? What's the sequence that guarantees we don't lose?

Strategy isn't about having all the answers. It's about seeing the board clearly and making the moves that matter.

Why Solitaire Is the Real Mirror of Business Strategy

Unlike Chess, Solitaire is an imperfect information game. You can make great decisions and still lose, which is exactly how business works.

In Chess, both players see the entire board. Perfect information means perfect planning is theoretically possible. But in Solitaire, and in business, you're dealt a hand you didn't choose, forced to make decisions with incomplete data, and required to navigate consequences you couldn't have predicted. This is the reality of leadership.

The Business Application

Solitaire teaches leaders that timing and sequencing matter more than raw capability. You might have all the right resources, but deploying them in the wrong order can block progress entirely.

Consider a product launch: you might have brilliant marketing, strong sales enablement, and a great product. But if you execute them out of sequence, say launching marketing before your sales team is trained then you've created path dependency that limits future options. The best leaders think like Solitaire players, always considering what their current move enables or constrains downstream.

Next time you're paralysed by incomplete data or uncertain outcomes, remember: Solitaire players don't know what card is coming next, but they still win by making the best sequential decisions with the information they have.

Leadership isn't about having perfect information. It's about building the discipline to sequence decisions wisely, exercise restraint when necessary, and accept that sometimes even perfect play leads to imperfect outcomes.

Why Chess Matters for Strategic Thinking

Chess mirrors business strategy, because your opening determines your options, trade-offs shape your pathway, and timing drives outcomes.

Chess demands multi move thinking. Every piece you move today changes the board state for tomorrow. Leaders who excel at Chess thinking understand that immediate wins often come at the cost of future positioning, and the best strategists optimise for both.

The Five Move Framework in Business

When Chess players think "five moves ahead," they're not predicting the future, they're mapping decision trees. Each move creates branches of possible responses, and skilled players evaluate which branches lead to advantageous positions.

In business, this translates to scenario planning. Before entering a new market, launching a product, or making a key hire, ask:

• What are the three most likely competitive responses?
• How will each response change our available options?
• Which decision tree leads to the strongest long term position?

Leaders who consistently apply this framework make fewer reactive pivots and more deliberate, confident moves.

The next time you're facing a major business decision, pause and apply Chess thinking: What are the next five moves this decision enables or constrains? How will competitors respond? What position will you be in three moves from now?

Great leaders don't just make good decisions—they make decisions that create the conditions for future good decisions. That's Chess. That's strategy.

Why Strategic Readiness Matters More Than Timing

In strategy conversations, leaders often ask: "When is the best time to start planning?"

After working with CEOs, Boards and Executive teams across industries, I've learned that this is the wrong opening question.

The real determinant of strategy quality isn't 'timing', but rather 'strategic readiness'. This readiness creates an environment for high quality strategic decisions, something the calendar alone cannot guarantee.

Why July - October Is the Best Time for Strategic Planning in Australia

While strategy can occur at any time, most Australian businesses consistently reach peak strategic readiness between July and October. Here's why that window works so reliably:

Why Is This Perspective Different?

Traditional strategy consultants often promote a generic idea: "The right time to plan is now."

It's catchy, but not particularly useful. It ignores organisational psychology, data availability and decision-making conditions.

Our view is more honest and more aligned to reality: Strategic readiness beats strategic timing. The best strategy emerges when the organisation is ready to think boldly, not when the calendar demands it.