Richard Rumelt

American management professor at UCLA Anderson School — author of Good Strategy Bad Strategy — who is considered the most rigorous academic writer on competitive strategy and who coined the concept of 'kernel of good strategy' (diagnosis, guiding policy, coherent actions).

Defined what strategy actually means versus what most organizations call strategy — Good Strategy Bad Strategy's argument that most 'strategy' is actually just aspirational goals (bad strategy) while real strategy requires a diagnosis of the challenge, a guiding policy, and coherent actions — gave practitioners a vocabulary to critique and improve strategic thinking.