Perigon's four strategy muscles — and why they matter now

"The mind is not a vessel to be filled, but a fire to be kindled." — Plutarch

Leaders with a strong Growth muscle treat unfamiliar territory as an invitation rather than a threat. They build in time for learning, frame setbacks as data rather than failure, and hire for intellectual appetite as much as experience. In a period of rapid structural change, this is the muscle that stops a leadership team becoming a prisoner of its own past expertise.

Growth is not about knowing more than everyone else. It is about remaining genuinely open to the possibility that the mental models and skillsets you have relied on may need updating — and building the habits that allow you to do so continuously.

But learning isn't enough. At some point, a leader has to move — increasingly before the picture is complete.

"Every start on an untrodden path is a venture which only in unusual circumstances looks sensible and likely to succeed." — Albert Schweitzer

Wayfaring leaders move before the map is complete. They bring people with them into genuinely uncharted territory and treat the absence of a map as an invitation rather than a reason to wait. In conditions where first-mover advantage is real and the cost of hesitation is rising, this muscle distinguishes organisations that shape their environment from those that merely respond to it.

Leaders with a strong Wayfaring muscle are comfortable making bold commitments with incomplete information. They know how to create momentum in the absence of certainty. They understand that the cost of waiting is often higher than the cost of moving.

However, moving boldly could be costly if done without the context of the bigger picture.

"You cannot see the whole sky through a bamboo tube." — Japanese proverb

Elevation is the capacity to hold the long view under pressure — to connect present decisions to distant horizons, and to create genuine space for thinking that the urgent has not yet colonised. Leaders who exercise this muscle consistently tend to make better decisions at pace, because they never entirely lose sight of where they are trying to get to.

In periods of elevated noise, this muscle becomes a rare and disproportionately valuable capability. Leaders with strong Elevation can zoom in and out fluidly — engaging with operational reality and then lifting their gaze back to the strategic picture without losing either.

And when the landscape shifts — as it will — the leader who holds the long view must also be willing to change course on how to get there.

"You can't stop the waves, but you can learn to surf." — Jon Kabat-Zinn

In an environment where circumstances can change faster than planning cycles, the ability to adapt without fearing loss of credibility or momentum is an important capability. The hardest version of Flow is not internal flexibility but public reversal of plans once championed. Changing your mind in private is easy. Changing it openly, in front of peers, stakeholders or team members, without becoming defensive or placing blame can be genuinely difficult.

Leaders with a strong Flow muscle have separated their credibility from the plan. They model adaptability in a way that makes it safe for others to do the same. In a period when the cost of staying on the wrong path too long is rising, a leader's ability to exercise this muscle may be highly consequential.