Reconceptualising Strategy: Ben Zweibelson on Strategy, Complexity, and Multi-Paradigm Thinking

We don’t just fight wars with weapons, we fight them with ideas, metaphors, and assumptions we don’t even question.

In this episode of Strategy Meets Reality, Mike Jones is joined by Ben Zweibelson—veteran, military strategist, and author of Reconceptualizing War—to explore why our dominant paradigms of strategy are failing us. They unpack the hidden structures behind military thinking, why complexity demands more than doctrine, and how multi-paradigm design can unlock radically different ways of seeing and acting.

This is not just about warfare. It’s a challenge to how we think, how we plan, and how we lead in a world that refuses to conform.

🔍 In this episode:

Why most strategy is trapped in a single paradigm

The difference between functionalism, complexity, and interpretivism

How militaries (and organisations) mistake activity for understanding

Why the irreversibility of time matters for decision-making

What multi-paradigm thinking looks like in practice

How language, design, and philosophy shape strategic failure or success

🎧 Keywords: Strategy, military thinking, complexity, war, paradigms, decision-making, design, multi-paradigm, functionalism, interpretivism, uncertainty

📘 Learn more about Ben’s work: https://www.helion.co.uk/military-history-books/reconceptualizing-war-.php

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🔗 Full episodes, show notes, and resources: https://www.lbiconsulting.com/strategymeetsreality-podcast

📺 Watch on YouTube → https://www.youtube.com/@StrategyMeetsReality

Connect with host Mike Jones → https://www.linkedin.com/in/mike-h-jones/