The Necessity for Strategy to Multi-solve

Strategy must multi-solve. It must be designed not as a sequence but as a simultaneity, where every action is judged across past, present, future, and mission at once.

The trap of presentism is only one version of a broader failure: strategies that collapse into a single horizon.

• Past-only strategies: These obsess over repair and atonement. While essential, they become paralysing if not paired with credible pathways forward. They risk trapping systems in cycles of grievance without generativity.
• Present-only strategies: These focus on crisis management and operational fixes. They can stabilise temporarily, but quickly collapse into burnout and incoherence if futures remain closed.
• Future-only strategies: These project inspiring visions and architectures, but fail if lived realities are unbearable. They create “visionary bypass,” where people are rhetorically included but practically excluded.
• Mission-only strategies: These elevate noble causes, but ring hollow if individual contributions remain invisible. They risk becoming “purpose theatre,” where the language of transformation is divorced from felt participation.