America Must Again Fight Like An Underdog

General Electric CEO Jeff Immelt spoke on December 9 at West Point and argued America must re-focus and re-energize its leadership and economic strategy. It is beyond true.

At Core Strategy Group, we work with companies in transforming them from the status of “incumbent”—over-confident, bureaucratic, afraid of change—to “insurgent”—hungry, agile and welcoming change. And it’s this kind of underdog-insurgent approach that American policy-making needs today: Returning to the grounding principles that created our greatness from the beginning and finding the courage to change that which we must.

This means, as Immelt implies, re-booting our nation’s leadership strategies—moving beyond the kind of incrementalism we see at work in the coming health care bill and shifting toward bold, audacious and strategically-focused programs for investment and reform. America was not built on small moves; it was forged on big ideas.

The 18^th Century philosopher Goethe wrote: “Boldness has genius, power and magic in it!” And today, in terms of re-focusing America’s economic, energy, educational and other reforms, it is a moment for boldness. There is genius, power and magic in that.

David Morey