In my last post I set up the idea of a paradox of systems—where we must use at least some system reductions to take action yet those same reductions introduce significant errors.

This discussion continues in an article I wrote for JP Castlin’s July 24, 2026 Strategy in Praxis newsletter available at this link. The article is free for all readers (no paywall) and looks at how the systems paradox affects strategy and the work of strategists.

Key Ideas

I want to also point to two key ideas which arrive later in the article:

1. The concept of exaggeration and minimization as natural and necessary forms of reduction in strategy—important reductions which also create error.
2. How the strategic practice of identifying target markets is a reduction because it cannot (ever) capture the whole reality of “the people who purchase my product.”

In my next post we will consider two examples of industries in the US (movie theaters and shopping malls) where system reductions led to decades of profits but have now backfired——because they were reductions.

Until then, keep an eye out for the ways focus in your business exaggerates certain areas while minimizing others. Be well…

©2026 Doug Garnett — All Rights Reserved

Image: Black Maps, ©1997 Timothy C. Ely, Used With Permission.

My upcoming book, The Complexity Paradigm: Using System Science to Drive Business Success, will be published by Columbia Business School Publishing in January 2027. It can be pre-ordered today through Columbia or on Amazon.

You can read more about my unusual background (math, aerospace, supercomputers, consumer goods & national TV ads) at www.Protonik.net. Through Protonik LLC I consult with companies as they design and bring to market new and innovative products. Since 2001 I have taught marketing, consumer behavior, and advertising at Portland State University and I am an active member of the RetailWire.com Braintrust with regular discussions of unusual retail challenges. Together with my podcast partner Shahin Khan, current issues in marketing and business are discussed on The Marketing Podcast — available on Google, Spotify, the OrionX website, and Apple Podcast.