It is helpful to gain a broad understanding of Trump’s “madness” because it provides a framework for business decisions. This is where we see the outlines of Trump’s objectives. We don’t ask readers to agree or disagree, and we make no value judgment on what he is doing. The aim is to grasp the strategy behind the, hopefully, feigned madness, so that we can make better business decisions.
In the 36 Strategies of the Chinese, strategy 27 suggests a person should pretend to be insane while remaining smart. Knowingly or not, President Trump seems to follow this strategy particularly well.
Business does not operate at the level of geopolitics, but the effects of this strategy create a disrupted environment in which it must operate. It may make life more difficult for the adversaries of the US, but it also makes life much more difficult for the operations of everyday, ordinary business.
