Why Good Strategy is Unexpected
Why Good Strategy Is Unexpected: How to Zig When Everyone Else Zags
Short answer: The strongest business strategy is the one your competitors aren't running — not because it's contrarian for its own sake, but because real advantage comes from what others can't or won't copy. In uncertain markets, the instinct is to play it safe and follow the proven playbook. That's exactly when an unexpected strategy matters most. I'm halfway through Good Strategy, Bad Strategy by Richard Rumelt, and one line keeps surfacing: "Good strategy is unexpected." Not clever. Not trendy. Unexpected. And in a world drowning in uncertainty, there's more pressure than ever to play it safe.
What makes a business strategy "good"?
Good strategy isn't what everyone else is doing. It's what they're not doing — because they don't see it yet, or they're too afraid to try. This connects to something I call pocket presence: building an organization where people understand the game well enough to play it without constant direction. Your team doesn't need to see the whole playbook — they understand the intent deeply enough to execute with autonomy. That only works when your strategy is grounded in something real, something that can't be copied by reading everyone else's playbook.
Why does unexpected strategy matter most in uncertain times?
We're living in unprecedented uncertainty. AI is rewriting the rules daily. Remote work killed the office and nobody told us what comes next. Economic headwinds keep shifting direction. In times like these, the safe play feels like copying what's working for others. But that's exactly when unexpected strategy matters most. When everyone is zigging toward safety, that's your invitation to zag toward opportunity. As my friend Hollis, founder of Baby Bathwater Institute, puts it: "Where can you zig where others zag?" That's not recklessness — that's strategic courage.
What are Hoot Design Company's three strategic bets for 2026?
1. Taste is the new moat. Everyone's terrified AI will replace creative work. We see it differently: AI will commoditize production, which means taste becomes your only defensible moat. Technology can execute your vision with terrifying efficiency, but it can't tell you what your vision should be. So we're moving upstream — competing on discernment, not deliverables.
2. In-person collaboration is a competitive edge. The world went remote; most agencies are scattered across time zones patching together Zoom calls. We're betting the digital world made in-person collaboration rare and valuable. We're betting on real eye contact, the exchange of energy, and nonverbal cues to take the work further than a call with laundry buzzing in the background ever could.
3. Undivided attention is the most valuable resource. This is why we built The Bird House — a 1,300-square-foot space with overnight accommodations where clients live and work with us for three days. A client's full attention, phones down, is worth more than any deliverable. While others compete on Zoom, we compete on presence.
How do you apply this to your own strategy?
Ask one question: what would your strategy look like if you stopped following the crowd? Not for the sake of being contrarian — for the sake of being strategic. No one built a legacy brand by playing it safe.
Related reading: Taste Is the New Moat · Pocket Presence
Written by Kristen Graham Brown, Founder of Hoot Design Company and creator of The Brand Being Method®. Featured in Forbes, Inc., and USA Today.
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It means deliberately choosing a strategy your competitors aren't pursuing. The advantage comes from doing something others can't easily copy — not from being different for its own sake.
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No. Rumelt's point is that good strategy is grounded in a real, defensible insight others have missed. It's strategic courage, not recklessness.
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When markets are uncertain, most companies retreat to "safe," copycat strategies. That crowds the safe lane and leaves the differentiated lane wide open for whoever is willing to take it.
