The Second Labor of Stratercules

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Chapter III: The Cerberus of Everything

Labor of the Courage to Focus⁶

The Gates of Strategic Underworld loomed before Stratercules, carved from the compressed PowerPoints of a thousand failed initiatives and held together with the broken dreams of project managers. Above the entrance, a sign flickered: "Abandon Hope, All Ye Who Enter Here Without A Clearly Defined Scope."

The probability of any organization successfully juggling three hundred initiatives was, according to the Improbability Calculator of Olympus, approximately 2 trillion to 1. These were roughly the same odds as accidentally solving world hunger while trying to optimize your email inbox.

Cerberus stood guard, but this was not the three-headed hound of classical myth. This Cerberus had THREE HUNDRED heads, each representing a different strategic initiative, each barking for attention with desperate urgency, and each had filed the proper paperwork to be considered a "critical priority."

• "PROTECT ALL MARKETS!" howled head seventeen, waving a market analysis.

• "SERVE EVERY SEGMENT!" demanded head forty-three, citing customer research.

• "PURSUE ALL OPPORTUNITIES!" shrieked head one-ninety-two, frothing with FOMO.

• "MAXIMIZE STAKEHOLDER VALUE!" barked head eighty-seven, though it couldn't define 'stakeholder.'

• "DIGITIZE EVERYTHING!" yelped head two-twenty-five, including things that shouldn't be digitized.⁷

• "FORM A COMMITTEE!" suggested head one-fifty, because someone had to.

The cacophony was deafening. The smell of scattered resources hung in the air, that acrid scent of energy dispersed so thin it evaporates before impact, mixed with the distinctive aroma of burnt-out project managers (notes of coffee, desperation, and dry shampoo).

"I seek the Sword of Strategic Sacrifice!" Stratercules shouted over the noise. "The blade that gains power not from what it cuts but from what it chooses NOT to cut!"

All three hundred heads turned to him and spoke in perfect unison, the first time they'd agreed on anything: "FOOL! You cannot have strategic sacrifice without addressing heads one through three hundred! What if you miss an opportunity? What if competitors exploit your gaps? What if stakeholders feel neglected? What if someone, somewhere, is doing something we're not doing? WHAT IF WE'RE NOT DOING ENOUGH THINGS?"

Stratercules raised his hammer and charged. He struck head twelve (ENTER NEW MARKETS!), but while he swung, heads fifteen, thirty-seven, and ninety-one bit his legs. He spun to face them, only to be attacked by heads two-oh-five through two-fifteen (the INNOVATION CLUSTER, which had formed a working group).

Feel that scattered attention? That's your brain trying to track too many priorities. It's also why you have seventeen browser tabs open right now. Yes, I can see them. Close some.

Soon Stratercules was covered in bite marks, each wound labeled with a different initiative: "Customer Experience Enhancement!" "Supply Chain Optimization!" "Sustainability Leadership!" "Digital Transformation!" "Culture Change!" "Agile Transformation!" "Post-Agile Transformation!" "Return to Pre-Agile!" His divine skin looked like a strategic planning document had exploded on him.

He retreated, breathing hard and bleeding initiatives. The Cerberus heads laughed, a sound like a cafeteria full of consultants discovering the client has an unlimited budget.

"You cannot defeat us!" the heads proclaimed, now organized into regional clusters for better coordination. "We guard against the greatest strategic sin: missing an opportunity! Better to pursue everything than to let something slip by! Our motto: 'Why Choose When You Can Have It All?'™"

"But you achieve nothing," Stratercules panted.

"WE ACHIEVE ACTIVITY!" the heads protested, producing dashboards. "We achieve coverage! We achieve comprehensive strategic planning! Look at our initiative portfolio! Behold our endless list of target clients! We will address every possible need, want, desire, whim, suggestion, passing thought, and fever dream! WE'RE SO BUSY WE MUST BE PRODUCTIVE!"

Stratercules noticed something. While most heads barked constantly, three near the center watched silently with intelligent eyes. They never spoke, never demanded attention, yet the other heads seemed to unconsciously orbit around them like strategic satellites.

"What would have to be true," he asked slowly, "for focusing on just three heads to be better than fighting three hundred?"

The silent heads perked up. The barking faltered. Several heads quickly formed a committee to discuss the implications of this question.

"Those three would have to be..." head sixty began nervously.

"The ones that actually matter," finished head one-forty, then immediately worried it had offended the others.

"The ones that, if we win there..." head ninety-nine continued.

"Make the others irrelevant," whispered head two-hundred, causing a collective gasp.

"IRRELEVANT?" shrieked the other heads. "NOTHING IS IRRELEVANT! EVERYTHING IS PRIORITY ONE!"

Stratercules approached the three silent heads. They watched him calmly, unlike their frantic brethren. "You're the real Cerberus, aren't you? The others are just noise."

The left head nodded. "I am Core Customer Value - what we uniquely do for those who matter most."

The middle head spoke: "I am Distinctive Capability - what we do that others can't or won't."

The right head smiled: "I am Economic Engine - how we sustain ourselves while creating value."

"If I strengthen you three..."

"The others wither from irrelevance," they said together.

"BUT WHAT ABOUT HEADS FOUR THROUGH THREE HUNDRED?" the other heads shrieked in unison, producing a sound that shattered nearby windows and several illusions. "THE MARKET OPPORTUNITIES! THE STAKEHOLDER NEEDS! THE COMPETITIVE THREATS! THE EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES! THE INNOVATION ECOSYSTEMS! THE AI STRATEGIES! THE THINGS WE DON'T EVEN KNOW WE DON'T KNOW!"

In a moment of desperate inspiration (or possibly divine intervention from Zeus, who was tired of receiving three hundred prayers per day from this location), Stratercules made his choice. He bound his own arms with chains, limiting himself to working with just the three that mattered. The constraint was agony, every fiber of his being wanted to address the screaming demands of the other heads. It was like being at a buffet and only taking salad, except the salad could save your company.

Feel that discomfort? That's the pain of leaving opportunities on the table. It's also the sensation of becoming strategic.

But as he focused his energy on the three core heads, something remarkable happened. The ignored heads began to quiet. Then droop. Then wither. Head seventeen (PROTECT ALL MARKETS!) realized that with distinctive capability, you don't need all markets. Head forty-four (SEND A PROPOSAL TO EVERY POTENTIAL CLIENT!) understood that with clear customer value, you can "fire" bad clients that don't fit your strategy. Head two-twenty-five (DIGITIZE EVERYTHING!) accepted that some things were better left analog.⁸

One by one, two hundred ninety-seven heads fell silent and disappeared, each releasing its grip on Corporathens' scattered resources. Some filed formal complaints about being deprioritized, but no one was left to process them. The three core heads grew stronger, more vibrant, more powerful.

"You have learned the second courage," the true Cerberus said, transforming into the Three-Headed Guardian of Focus. "Real strategy means choosing what NOT to do. Comprehensive initiative portfolios aren't stupid. They're thorough. But thoroughness without focus is just sophisticated failure with better documentation."

A new scar appeared on Stratercules' chest, over his heart: CHOOSE WHAT NOT TO DO.

The Sword of Strategic Sacrifice materialized, a blade that gleamed brighter with each option it rejected. Its hilt bore an inscription: "Every Real Yes Requires a Thousand Real No's (Terms and Conditions Apply)." Stratercules grasped it, feeling how it complemented his hammer perfectly. One tool for forcing things together, another for cutting things away. He was becoming a walking metaphor for strategic choice.

The air cleared of scattered energy, replaced by the sharp scent of focus, that crystalline smell of concentrated force, like lightning about to strike a single point, or a project that actually has adequate resources.

⁶ Academic studies show that 97% of organizations claiming to be "focused" have more than 7 'strategic' priorities. Another 2% are lying about their count.

⁷ The initiative to digitize employee morale had resulted in an app that sent push notifications asking "Are you happy?" every 27 minutes. Morale had, predictably, plummeted.

⁸ The "Digitize Hugs" initiative quietly disbanded after creating more problems than it solved.

The epic saga of Stratercules will continue next week!