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Biography
Mark Chussil is Founder and CEO of Advanced Competitive Strategies, Inc. and a 35-year veteran in competitive strategy. A pioneer in business war-gaming and strategy simulation, Mark’s designs have won a patent and a best-in-class industry award. He has designed strategy simulations and conducted business war games for dozens of companies around the world, helping them make or save billions of dollars.
A highly rated and entertaining speaker, Mark speaks about strategic thinking at conferences and in corporate workshops. He has written three books, chapters for five others, and numerous articles, and he has been quoted in Fast Company, Harvard Management Update, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and other publications.
Mark is also a Founder of Benefitics, LLC (specializing in quantifying Social ROI for non-profit organizations), a Founder of Crisis Simulations International, LLC, an Adjunct Professor and Director of Research in the Department of Strategy at the Boston Graduate School of Business, and a member of the visiting faculty of the Indian School of Business. He was named one of 2010’s Top 100 Thought Leaders in Trustworthy Business Behavior by Trust Across America, and he serves on the Board of Directors of Friends of the Children.
Prior to founding ACS, Mark was Director, Business Strategy Research at The Strategic Planning Institute (The PIMS Program) and Manager, Strategy Development at Sequent Computer Systems.
Mark earned his B.A. from Yale and his M.B.A. from Harvard.
You can see Mark's 30-minute speech on "Why Strategies Fail," for the Chief Strategy Officer Summit in New York City in December 2011, at this link. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=baHpD87OVk0&feature=youtu.be
Industry Expertise (3)
Management Consulting
Professional Training and Coaching
Corporate Leadership
Areas of Expertise (4)
Strategic Thinking
Competitive Strategy
Business War Games
Executive Education
Education (2)
Yale University: B.A., Political Science (Intensive) 1975
Harvard Business School: M.B.A., General Management 1979
Testimonials (6)
Torsten Dalhöfer, Vice President, Talent Development | Credit Suisse AG
“Mark’s approach is refreshingly different from the infotainment we typically see. Mark takes you right to the core of what strategy is all about. Rather than explaining SWOT, Ansoff, and Blue Ocean for yet another time, he makes you think about how you think. It is about mental models, groupthink, and pre-conceived ideas rather than the tools you already know. His approach is not about him giving you the “right” strategy, it is about ensuring that you choose a strategy option that will achieve what you set out to achieve. As far as I am concerned, that makes much more sense than the mainstream approach. You will have to activate all your brain cells to get the maximum out of this.”
Arunabh Das Sharma, Executive President & Advisor Strategic Initiatives, Bennett Coleman and Co. Ltd. | Strategic Thinking (3-day workshop through the Indian School of Business)
“I interacted with Mark Chussil during a war game and strategy workshop he ran for our company in November 2011. I was extremely impressed by his personality, quality of thinking and preparation. This was the first time that he was visiting India and showed a great degree of cultural sensitivity which endeared him to the group. His focus on the task at hand and the outcomes needed were always sharp and he worked tirelessly to keep us all focused. I wish him all the best and hope to interact with him regularly.”
Zoe Nolan, International Events Director | Chief Strategy Officer Summit
“As a summit organiser it's always nice when a speaker receives positive feedback from the audience. This was the case when Mark presented at the Chief Strategy Officer Summit in New York last December. His session entitled 'Why Strategies Fail?' was really interactive, he even did a short quiz! I would recommend Mark as a speaker as he keeps the audience engaged and had some thought provoking ideas throughout his session.”
Cyrille Michel, Senior Vice President | Blount, Inc.
“Mark Chussil conducted a workshop on the strategic planning process at our company in April 2010. The workshop was designed to get participants to realize inherent human biases that have a deep impact on the outcome of strategic planning. Mark used numerous examples and engaged the participants in role-playing. Feedback from my team members was excellent. I recommend Mark’s workshop to anyone interested in improving a strategic planning process.”
Prof. Nancy Kymn Harvin, Assistant Professor | MBA program at Empire State College (The State University of New York)
“Mark Chussil challenges conventional wisdom, turns the status quo on its head, provokes the best ‘what if’ thinking, and makes sense out of nonsense! Engaging with Mark is evidence of one’s wisdom and commitment to winning.”
Marc DiPaolo, Policy Advisor at Office of the Secretary of Defense (USA) |
“Mark’s webinar was fantastic. The most interesting part (to me) was the compare/contrast of war gaming with other types of analysis. Many thanks!”
Event Appearances (16)
Marvelous Techniques: A Workshop on What Ails Competitive Strategy
Harvard Business School Association of Oregon Portland, Oregon
2010-03-31
Numbers Gone Wild: Or, Precision In, Garbage Out
2010 SCIP International Conference (Strategic and Competitive Intelligence Professionals) Washington, D.C.
2010-03-10
Welcome to Petranesia!
Workshop for executive management, Fortune 500 company Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
2009-08-13
Business War-Gaming: How to Stress-Test Your Options Before You Commit
Two-day open-enrollment workshop for executives Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
2009-02-11
Strategic Thinking
Three-day workshop for executive team The Indian School of Business (Hyderabad, India)
2011-11-17
Too Bad You're Human: Why Smart Pricers Start Price Wars
The PriceX Conference Chicago
2008-06-09
Putting Your Strategy to the Test
The Performance Conference Orlando, Florida
2011-10-20
Does Your Strategy Hurt When I Do This?
Open-enrollment workshop Istanbul
2007-11-16
Why Strategies Fail (P.S. We expect them to succeed)
2011 SCIP International Conference (Strategic and Competitive Intelligence Professionals) Orlando, Florida
2011-05-10
Too Bad You're Human: Why Smart Strategists Choose Bad Strategies
Open-enrollment presentation, MediaCat conference Istanbul
2007-11-15
The ACS Automobile Industry Business War Game
Workshop for global executive team Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
2011-09-14
Business War Gaming: Battling Rivals with Business and Competitive Intelligence
Intelligence Business Networks open-enrollment two-day workshop Dubai
2008-04-28
Everyday Woe Prices
Executive MBA classes for Willamette University Portland and Salem, Oregon
2010-11-16
Desperate Competitors and New Rules: Competing Effectively During Turbulence
Intelligence Business Networks open-enrollment two-day workshop Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
2009-08-21
Uh-Oh: How We Get Into Trouble and Why We Don't Have To
Executive MBA class State University of New York, Empire State College (online)
2011-06-15
How to Become a Superstar Strategist
The Performance Conference Chicago
2011-05-05
Sample Talks (1)
Why Strategies Fail: Human People, Biased Tools
Many of the world’s largest, most-respected companies have gone bankrupt. Why? It’s not because they were stupid, careless, or complacent; rather, it’s in spite of them being smart, careful, and dedicated. Countless other companies lose ground, miss targets, and damage careers. It doesn’t have to be that way. You can see a 30-minute version of this speech at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=baHpD87OVk0&feature=youtu.be.
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