Since Michael Porter, strategy has been closely associated with the pursuit of advantage. At its core, strategy is about positioning—finding a way to compete more effectively, to create greater value, to stand stronger in the face of competition. Porter’s framework of competitive advantage helped crystallize this goal: whether through cost leadership, differentiation, or focus, you must develop an edge that sets you apart and secures superior performance.

However, in today’s volatile, uncertain, and fast-moving world, the notion of sustainable competitive advantage has been challenged. Rita McGrath, one of the most influential contemporary voices in strategy, argues that the idea of long-term durable advantages is increasingly outdated. In her view, what organizations must now pursue are transient advantages—short-lived but powerful positions that offer leverage for a time, before being replaced by the next wave of opportunity.

This doesn’t diminish the importance of advantage—it actually heightens it. In an environment of constant change, the ability to create and let go of advantages becomes central. The strategist must become more like a portfolio manager, constantly scanning, testing, seizing, and retiring positions. Some advantages may last years; others just months. But either way, strategy without advantage—however temporary—is not strategy at all.

What remains unchanged is the need to find the leverage points. Strategy loves leverage. Just as Archimedes claimed he could move the world with a long enough lever and a place to stand, strategists search for those inflection points where insight and action combine to create exponential impact. These are the moments when complexity simplifies, and opportunity crystallizes. And when you find one, you know it—Eureka!

These advantages might come from technology, timing, relationships, design, or execution. They might arise from internal capabilities or external blind spots. What matters is that they are distinctive and relevant. A competitive advantage that doesn’t matter to your stakeholders is just a novelty. A strength that can’t be translated into value is just potential. Strategy helps convert potential into performance through advantage.

Importantly, advantages are not found—they are often built. Through disciplined effort, aligned choices, and cumulative learning, organizations can create the conditions in which advantages emerge. And when those advantages are aligned with identity and reinforced by behaviour, they are harder to copy. Even if they won’t last forever, they can last long enough to matter.

We must also remember that advantage rarely comes from isolated actions. It typically emerges from systems of activities, strategically arranged to amplify one another. As Porter emphasized, it’s the fit among actions that makes an advantage hard to replicate. This remains true, even in McGrath’s more dynamic world—systems must now be more adaptable, but coherence is still a source of strength.

In that sense, strategy is not only about seeking advantage—it’s about developing it. It involves looking beyond the obvious, beyond best practices, into the unique configuration of assets, choices, and aspirations that create your moment of leverage. Strategic thinking allows you to act before the advantage fades—or better, to evolve your position as the environment shifts.

Whether sustainable or transient, advantage is what makes something strategic. Without it, we are simply planning. With it, we are maneuvering, influencing, and winning. The world may be more uncertain than ever, but the fundamental drive remains the same: to find a way, in a crowded and chaotic world, to stand out, to stand strong, and to stand ahead.