Editorial

Written and selected by the editor

Blog

The Green Bay Packers: Ownership, Belonging and the Question of Agency

5 Oct 2026 · Padraig O'Donnell · 9 min read

Kobe Never Parked the Bus: Fear of Failure and Playing Not to Lose

28 Sept 2026 · Padraig O'Donnell · 8 min read

Mayo 2026: Kobe and the Lesson in Managing Potential

21 Sept 2026 · Padraig O'Donnell · 10 min read

THE TRANSFER MARKET: Why Football Sells Players but America Trades them

13 Sept 2026 · Padraig O'Donnell · 9 min read

LIV Golf: The Strategy of Knowing What to Copy

6 Sept 2026 · Padraig O'Donnell · 10 min read

Right Here, Right Now: Brighton FC and the Masterclass in Markup and Margin

31 Aug 2026 · Padraig O'Donnell · 7 min read

Slowing Down to Go Faster: The Rhasidat Adeleke Lesson on Turnaround Strategy

24 Aug 2026 · Padraig O'Donnell · 7 min read

You Can't Win Anything With Kids": The Business Case for Trusting What You Can't Measure

16 Aug 2026 · Padraig O'Donnell · 7 min read

Will It Make The Boat Go Faster? And How A Deal Desk Can Keep A Company On The Right Course

11 Aug 2026 · Padraig O'Donnell · 8 min read

Cards on the Table: The Business Case for Pricing Transparency

4 Aug 2026 · Padraig O'Donnell · 7 min read

The Dennis Rodman Problem: You Don't Put A Saddle On A Mustang

27 Jul 2026 · Padraig O'Donnell · 6 min read

Has FIFA Forgotten What Made the World Cup Great

19 Jul 2026 · Padraig O'Donnell · 6 min read

When Brazil Stopped Being Brazil

11 Jul 2026 · Padraig O'Donnell · 4 min read

Curiosity, AI and Building The Strategic Times: Why I Decided to Get Off the Sidelines and Tog Out

3 Jul 2026 · Padraig O'Donnell · 6 min read
Editors' Choice
01
BBC·29 Sept 2026
The story of Manchester City and 115 charges

It is the biggest disciplinary case in Premier League history. The outcome will define top-flight football in the 2010s - as well as this decade. It is a battle between Manchester City and the Premier League - but who will prevail? Last week, round one went to the Premier League as an independent panel found City guilty of the majority of the 115 charges they faced. But we still don’t know what the punishment might be, and City will appeal. The chaos is set to continue. It’s a complex picture, and details of the case stretch back 17 years. Here, we piece together City’s on-field endeavours with the alleged wrongdoing to lay out the timeline.

02
BBC Sport·24 Sept 2026
How Man City overhauled their squad from a 650,000-strong database

Inside the confines of Manchester City's sophisticated data operation is a fundamental phrase its experts work towards: "What does it take to win?"

03
Training Ground Guru ·21 Sept 2026
Why the fastest recruitment departments are winning the transfer market

The big question facing recruitment departments today is not whether they have enough data, because they almost certainly do.

04
McKinsey Quarterly (Marla M. Capozzi, Ari Kellen, and Sven Smit)·3 Sept 2026
The perils of best practice: Should you emulate Apple?

Emulating Apple's specific business practices is dangerous because most companies operate in entirely different ecosystems, markets, and internal cultures.

05
The Global Recruiter·24 Aug 2026
Irish Labour costs up 17 per cent in three years

Figures from the Employment and Recruitment Federation of Ireland (ERF) Irish Labour Market Monitor for Q2 2026 have revealed the construction, industry and transport sectors added 56,500 roles in a year while high tech and labour-intensive services shed 71,000 between them. Moreover, the report shows clearly how employers are pushing new hiring into contract rather than permanent.

06
Medium.com·18 Aug 2026
Defining Success: How Win & Lose Conditions Clarify Project Outcomes

Win and lose conditions tie your project goals to actionable, real-time insights. They transform your strategy from a vague aspiration into a clear, adaptable roadmap.

07
People Management by CIPD·12 Aug 2026
UK job postings fall 11 per cent since start of year, study finds

Employers hiring fewer people, leaving graduates with limited opportunities as demand for AI skills grows

08
Padraig O'Donnell·6 Aug 2026
Strategic Renewal: The Case of The Irish Rugby Football Union

This paper formed the basis of my postgraduate thesis in Strategic Management at UCD Smurfit Business School in 2011. It examines how the IRFU responded to rugby's move to professionalism in 1995 and the organisational renewal that followed. It was a study about more than just rugby. It was a study of leadership, strategy and how organisations adapt when the world changes around them. The research later contributed to further academic work by my supervisor, Peter McNamara, and Olga Ryazanova, who continued to develop the ideas through research projects and conference presentations in the years that followed. Although written over a decade ago, many of the themes still feel remarkably relevant today and continue to influence the articles I write for The Strategic Times.

09
www.leadingwithainsight.com·4 Aug 2026
The €1 Million Decision: Why a 1% Pricing Improvement Matters More Than You Think

Pricing isn't overlooked because it isn't important. It's overlooked because its financial impact is often underestimated.

10
But This Time by Sinead O'Sullivan·27 Jul 2026
Ireland's Delivery Inability

Why Ireland fails to deliver its reforms, and pretty much everything else.

11
MIT Sloan Executive Education·15 Jul 2026
Moneyball for Business Managers: The 7 Components of a Successful Analytics Program

MIT Sloan Senior Lecturer Ben Shields says that organizations in every industry can learn a lot from the sports data revolution when launching, implementing, or refining their own analytics program.

12
HBR·14 Jul 2026
When to Walk Away from a Deal

Harvard Business Review advises walking away from a deal when rigorous due diligence reveals a failure to align with strategic logic or when the price exceeds a pre-defined maximum. To avoid "deal fever" and emotional decision-making, companies must evaluate the target’s operational reality, stand-alone value, tangible synergies, and hard walk-away prices. by Geoffrey Cullinan, Jean-Marc Le Roux and Rolf-Magnus Weddigen

13
Michael Lewis·14 Jul 2026
The No-Stats All-Star

"The No-Stats All-Star" is a legendary archetype made famous by author Michael Lewis in a 2009 New York Times Magazine cover story about former NBA player Shane Battier. It describes a player or team member who doesn't post flashy individual statistics, but fundamentally elevates their team's performance and causes opponents to play worse simply through intelligence, leadership, and hustle.

14
HBR·13 Jul 2026
Who has the D?

Who Has the D? by Paul Rogers and Marcia Blenko outlines a framework for ending organizational decision-making bottlenecks. The "D" stands for the Decision Maker—the single person ultimately accountable for resolving impasses, making the final call, and committing the organization to action.

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