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🌱 The “Godfather strategy” (I see this everywhere now)

🌱 The “Godfather strategy” (I see this everywhere now)

The godfather strategy. Monthly scrum board.

Mitchell Cohen
June 08, 2025

Here’s your 3 insights in 3 minutes.

🤔 Strategy vs Tactics

I’ll be honest…I never thought much about the difference between these two words.

But that changed this week.

I was reading the book Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity and came across a famous quote that’s been stuck in my head.

“Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy are the noise before defeat.”

- Sun Tzu

And suddenly, I started to see it everywhere.

For example…

🐴 The Godfather Strategy

Mario Puzo had never written a screenplay before The Godfather.

After winning two Oscars, he figured it was time to finally learn how.

He bought a screenwriting book. Chapter one said: “Study The Godfather—it’s the model of a screenplay.”

Turns out, he’d taken the right approach all along.

“[The Godfather] was the first time I’d ever written a screenplay, so I didn’t know what I was doing…and it came out right. After I had won two Academy Awards for the first two ‘Godfathers,’ I went out and bought a book on screenwriting because it was sort of off the top of my head and I figured I'd better learn what it’s about. In the first chapter the book said, ‘study Godfather I, it’s the model of a screenplay.’ So I was stuck with the book.”

- Mario Puzo

See his strategy was simple: write the best story he could.

Not learn the rules first or master the format.

Just write.

Had he started with tactics, there’d be no Godfather.

⚒️ From Theory to Practice

I’ve been testing a physical scrum board on my wall.

It’s based on The Monthly Method, a system created by a former project manager who teaches agile strategy for personal goals.

One thing she said really stuck:

Don’t create subtasks when you’re planning.

Which seems counterintuitive, but it works.

When you create a list of sub-tasks first, it’s easier to get overwhelmed without making progress.

Or in other words:

Projects = the destination (strategy)
Subtasks = different paths to get there (tactics)

I’ve realized my brain defaults to subtasks and tactics, which feels productive… but usually means I’m stuck.

I almost always default to digital, but am loving this analog wall

So now, this is my reminder:

Tactics get attention. Strategy gets results.

Salud,
Mitchell aka “Mitchell Corleone”