The answer, of course, is deceptively simple – albeit deeply inconvenient, possibly even offensive, especially to the comfortable, quarterly-bonus crowd.
Step one: Steal the base tech. Yes, they stole it. That’s right – stealthy, strategic, and with the kind of patience and planning we only fantasize about in our “Innovation Strategy Offsite” slide decks.
They took all that which was hidden or protected: proprietary IP, confidential research, closely held know-how. They employed a mix of old-school HUMINT (you know, people – remember those?) and modern network intrusions.
They inserted their assets. When that did not work, they recruited insiders. They relentlessly gathered the intelligence. How did they do it? They read the manual – yes! Our manual.
Meanwhile, we, the champions of short-termism, were busy chasing efficiency and profitability like it was Pokémon Go. What did you say? The servers were on fire? Nah, don’t worry. Let’s first optimize procurement. What? Threat intelligence? That sounds really expensive. “On that one, let’s circle back next quarter.”
Step two: Facilitate innovation. They invested – heavily and unapologetically – in educating their young engineers and scientists. And not just “STEM Day at the Zoo” levels. We’re talking real money, real incentives, and actual cultural value placed on becoming technically excellent.
Who could’ve predicted that prioritizing engineers would result in actual engineering prowess? Shocking.
Step three: Build the infrastructure. They propped up their industry – strategically, ruthlessly, and with full awareness that quarterly reports are not sacred texts. Incentives were structured for the long game. Not to impress analysts, but to win – technologically, economically, geopolitically.
And what were we doing on our side of the fence? We often mistook MBAs for visionaries (very well that went), let CEOs stare at spreadsheets like oracles of truth, and entrusted politicians – with attention spans rivaling those of fruit flies – to guide national strategy.
And then we act all surprised and hurt when the house is on fire… again.
Shall we ever learn? Or are we truly doomed to fulfill the prophecy my father shared with me six decades ago – a line that rings louder with every board meeting and budget cut:
“Jorge, your teachers will tell you the most abundant element in the universe is hydrogen. They’re of course wrong. It’s human stupidity.”
Naturally, some will read this post, miss the point entirely, and immediately say: “Hmm, maybe, we need better branding and a YouTube video. Let’s call it Strategic Complacency 2026 – now with 20% more PowerPoints and 50% more meetings.
Oh, well…