Seeing Clearly in a Contested World
How GRIPS, PIVOT, and ALIGN Offer a 360° Framework for Strategic Coherence
Strategic competition today cuts across missiles, markets, supply chains, standards, semiconductors, and storylines. Democracies and authoritarian regimes are not just contesting territory—they are racing for systemic advantage.
To compete and win in this environment, clarity is power—and coherence is essential.
That’s why I developed a trio of tools— the 360° Strategic Coherence Frameworks—designed to help leaders set national priorities, assess institutional posture, and ensure strategy becomes real.
GRIPS – What nations must prioritize to remain secure and competitive
PIVOT – Where institutions are exposed, misaligned, or advantaged
ALIGN – How to close the gap between ambition and execution
Together, these frameworks help leaders move from vision to coordination to impact—with clarity, precision, and discipline.
GRIPS: What Nations Must Build to Compete
GRIPS identifies five core domains that free societies must develop, align, and sustain to generate lasting strength—not just power in reserve, but power in use:
Governance – Inspire trust through legitimate, responsive institutions
Resilience – Withstand coercion, crisis, and systemic shocks
Innovation – Drive frontier capabilities in science, technology, and production
Perception – Earn global legitimacy through credible, visible performance
Security – Deter aggression through modern, integrated force and alliances
Traditional frameworks like DIME framework—and its expanded form, DIMEFIL— were built for an era when America was the unchallenged global leader. They asked: How can overwhelming power be projected?
But in today’s multipolar, multidomain reality, the question is different:
How is enduring strength generated, sustained, and aligned across systems?
GRIPS reframes strategy around preparation, not projection—around coherence, not just capacity.
PIVOT: Diagnosing Institutional Posture
If GRIPS sets the national agenda, PIVOT helps institutions understand where they actually stand.
It functions like a strategic MRI, exposing leverage points and vulnerabilities before they’re exploited. It’s applicable across governments, corporations, universities, development banks, and alliances.
PIVOT evaluates five dimensions:
Presence – Market, data, and talent footprint
Institutional Navigation – Regulatory agility and lawfare readiness
Value Structure – Financial resilience and capital strategy
Operational Technology – Infrastructure, IP, and digital capacity
Trust – Shapeholder legitimacy and brand credibility
Where GRIPS defines what to build, PIVOT assesses how well you're positioned to act under pressure.
ALIGN: Turning Strategy into Strategic Coherence
Even the best priorities and posture will fail without alignment. That’s where ALIGN comes in.
It closes the space between narrative and execution, between innovation and governance, between deterrence and coordination.
ALIGN gives leaders five disciplines to ensure strategy isn’t just declared—but delivered:
A — Audit for Cross-Domain Consistency
→ Ensure your efforts across GRIPS and PIVOT reinforce rather than compete.L — Link Vision to Execution Systems
→ Tie goals to policies, budgets, and timelines with real accountability.I — Integrate Across Institutions and Sectors
→ Coordinate public and private actors, allies and agencies, toward shared outcomes.G — Gap-Test with Strategic Stress Scenarios
→ Simulate breakdowns to expose interdependencies before they crack.N — Narrow Focus to What Builds Trust and Advantage
→ Prune distraction. Concentrate on what compounds credibility and power.
ALIGN is the discipline that makes strategy real—and keeps it from unraveling when pressure mounts.
Why These Frameworks Matter Now
We live in a time of deepening risk: authoritarian assertiveness, digital disruption, economic fragmentation, climate volatility, and democratic erosion.
Strategic success demands perspective, posture, and precision.
GRIPS gives us the perspective.
PIVOT reveals the posture.
ALIGN delivers the precision to act effectively.
Together, they form a 360° toolkit for leaders navigating an unforgiving strategic landscape.
What’s Ahead on Frontiers of Freedom
WISC will apply these frameworks in the weeks ahead—through real-world cases and targeted insights:
GRIPS: A Framework for National Strength in a Fragmented World
PIVOT: Are You Ready to Compete?
ALIGN: Mind the Gap: Turning Strategy into Coherence
Because in a world where the frontiers of freedom are shifting fast, strategy must not only be bold—it must be coherent.
In line with my belief that embracing AI is essential to both personal and national success, this piece was developed with the support of AI tools, though all arguments and conclusions are my own.