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commitment, add value, and provide insights at every stage of the way. And you’ll be working in teams so that you learn the value of team-work, the need to work as one unit and not as individuals. You have till June, ladies and gentlemen—nine very exciting months—and I hope you will make the most of it.”
    Jen cringed as a couple of people said “we will,” and Jay smiled appreciatively.
    “And now,” he continued, “I’m delighted to introduce your tutor for Strategy in Action, Professor Richard Turner. Many of you will have heard of Richard—he is one of the leading strategists in Europe and has written more books than most of us have read. I’m sure you are going to learn an awful lot from this guy—so, over to you, Richard.”
    A rather skinny gray-haired man stood up, and Jen noted appreciatively that he looked much more like an academic—he had those molelike features found on people who spent all their time reading books.
    He surveyed the room for several minutes and everyone sat silently, waiting for him to begin.
    “Coca-Cola,” he said eventually. “Imagine that sales are down for some reason. Should it produce generic cola for supermarkets to make up for the drop in brand value that it faces?”
    Everyone looked at one another hesitantly, then Jen saw a guy at the front of the room put his hand up. The professor motioned for him to speak.
    “No, because then why will people buy the Real Thing?” he said and a lot of people started nodding.
    “Kellogg’s does it,” Richard said. “Doesn’t stop people buying Cornflakes, does it?”
    “I think they should,” a girl near Jen said quickly. “People are becoming less brand focused, and more supermarkets are pushing their own brand merchandise.”
    “But then Coca-Cola will lose their differentiator. What’s more, they are beholden to the supermarkets, who can at any time choose a different, cheaper cola provider and no one would know from the packaging. That’s not a situation I’d be comfortable with if I were on the Coca-Cola board.”
    Silence descended on the room and the girl went bright red.
    “Welcome to strategy,” said the professor with a little smile. “And if you take one thing—and one thing only— away from this session, it should be this: You can analyze external factors, you can analyze internal factors, and you can forecast whatever you want. But you can still screw things up because the world out there isn’t interested in your strategy. It changes. Your customers change, your suppliers change. And unless you keep up, unless you are ready to change, to adapt and accept that strategy is a movable feast, then you will end up like the dodo. Do I make myself clear?”
    Everyone nodded.
    “Personally,” the professor continued, “I think you’re right.” He was looking at the guy who said Coca-Cola shouldn’t make cola for anyone else. “But that doesn’t mean that tomorrow you couldn’t be wrong.”
    The guy nodded earnestly, and Jen found herself tut-ting in irritation. Who cared whether Coca-Cola made cola for anyone else? It was a horrible, sugary drink that was bad for the teeth. And the fact that this lecture had made her want one really badly was, frankly, adding insult to injury.

2
    Bloody stupid MBA. Jen dumped four huge textbooks and two binders on her kitchen table and shook her arms, which were trembling from having carried the load all the way on the tube. No one had warned her about the sheer amount of reading she would have to do on the course. Or carrying, for that matter. Sod interviews, they should do a fitness test of prospective students. Lugging
Foundations of Management
around was no easy matter.
    She went straight for the bottle of wine she’d opened the night before and poured herself a glass, sitting down and staring furiously at the books in front of her. She’d had to endure five hours of lectures. Plus an hour and a half of “team building” which had involved her, Lara, and