After finishing the first three posts in this series I found the first link returned on searching “bloomberg occupy wall street” quoted him Tuesday in the Daily News. Reporters are motivated to play up controversy, so I figure the reporter may have taken the quotes out of context. Based on what I read, I see Bloomberg increasing the polarization, taking sides, and missing his opportunity to lead. As a leader,[…] Keep reading →

Last post I pointed out the stakes to individual North Korean decision-makers. That perspective implies North Korean decision-makers are part of a larger system they have little control over and have little choice not to follow their roles within it without grave risk to themselves and everything they care about. With so little choice, what do they want? What do they pursue? Of course they want material prosperity and security,[…] Keep reading →

Okay, now we understand the situation. What can be done? As I wrote yesterday, people don’t want to protest. They want their voices heard and to understand and agree with the process they’re talking about. The opportunity for the Mayor of New York City is to follow a three-fold path Support the right to speak freely in his city Recognize the need for order and non-violence Support the city’s great[…] Keep reading →

To understand how leaders in North Korea decide how to implement the strategy I’ve described in the past few posts, you have to look at the situation from their perspective. When a business decides its strategy, it formally deliberates and decides it. For the management team to mess up on implementing it may result in the company losing money, market share, and so on. Messing up badly can result in[…] Keep reading →

Following yesterday’s context… Bloomberg has done a lot for the city. I like the increased bike lanes and pedestrian zones in Times Square, Herald Square, and Madison Square that have appeared under his leadership, for example. But personally I remember him most for what I saw as his lack of leadership during the 2004 Republican convention in New York City. People wanted to protest non-violently. The police refused permission to[…] Keep reading →

This series of posts will present easy, low-risk-of-error, high-chance-of-success actions that would-be leaders can do. As always in this blog, it begins with context and an overview of the relevant principles as I see them. So far, the movement has revealed a stunning lack of leadership all around. People ask who is leading the movement. Great question, but the protesters are only one place lacking leadership. While most people point[…] Keep reading →

I’m using the lens of business strategy to understand the North Korean government’s strategy. That lens applies, partly because of the similarities between business and political competition, but mostly because North Korea’s situation is so simple. The three main relevant factors in competitive strategy are Keeping out competition — to have a sustainable competitive advantage — dominates strategy. Dominating geographically is often an effective strategy for a sustainable competitive advantage.[…] Keep reading →

In today’s interview, my business partner, Christina Black, asked me my best part of visiting North Korea. Small interface: [audio:https://joshuaspodek.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/north_korea_greatest_lesson.mp3] Large interface:[videofile]https://joshuaspodek.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/north_korea_greatest_lesson.mp3[/videofile] — EDIT: I included much of this post and this series on strategy (edited and polished) in my ebook, Understanding North Korea: Demystifying the World’s Most Misunderstood Country. I wrote the book to help increase understanding, communication, and freedom.

First a few caveats before I paint the broad strokes for the perspectives and motivations for the major players as they relate to North Korean strategy. I haven’t studied international and public affairs. I believe, nonetheless, that the broad strokes below describe the important aspects of the strategic situation. Perhaps I’m speaking out of ignorance, but I believe history backs me up: how else can you explain a regime maintaining[…] Keep reading →