Pattern thinking:: a strategic shortcut

This article describes the application of pattern thinking to strategy. Patterns provide a powerful discipline to see order beneath the surface chaos. Pattern thinking can help entrepreneurs, managers, investors, and key talent to anticipate the likely direction of changes even before they happen. It reveals the economic meaning of these changes and provides the tools to capitalize on them. The authors report on groundbreaking research into over 200 companies in 40 industries, and they cite several examples of companies which have profited from analyzing their opportunities according to the profit pattern matrix.