Thomas J. Sargent

Thomas Sargent is Rowan Distinguished Professor of Finance at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Most Strategy Failures Are Sequencing Failures

In 1997 British Airways spent tens of millions of pounds repainting its tailfins with world art. The designs were attractive and the execution was competent. But the rebrand was a disaster. The problem was that no one had thought about what British Airways should be before deciding what it should look like. Margaret Thatcher famously draped a handkerchief over a model tailfin at a trade show. The planes were eventually repainted.