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In 1996, Intel’s CEO Andy Grove wrote a groundbreaking book about business: Only the Paranoid Survive. In it, he coined the term “strategic inflection point” — the point when, in his words, “fundamentals are about to change.”
It certainly feels like this August was just such a point in politics. Donald Trump, who left his convention prematurely confident of a landslide election, spent the entire month politically off balance. Meanwhile Kamala Harris transformed the Democratic Party back to a joyful party of hopeful change, rather than static despair.
Against this new political reality, Republicans doubled down on election denialism and voter suppression. As a new month begins, we are at a strategic inflection point in the fight over the rules of voting, ballot counting and election certification. What happens in court over the next month may well decide who wins the presidency and which party will control Congress. The stakes could not be higher.
One of Grove’s insights was that “strategic change doesn’t just start at the top. It starts with your calendar.” How leaders spend their time matters. A leader’s time is finite and at a strategic inflection point speed matters.
This is even more the case in close elections. Election Day is immovable. There are no extensions. Time litigating one case means less focus on another. The much-maligned Purcell doctrine recognizes that, at some point before the election, the rules of voting need to be finalized. Ballots are printed and election workers are trained.
On this, the first day of September, we stand at a critical strategic inflection point. So, let’s get started.
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