645: Ex McKinsey expert on war games, John Horn. How to read your competitors (Strategy Skills classics)

For this episode, let's revisit a Strategy Skills classic featuring an interview with the author of Inside the Competitor's Mindset , John Horn , where he shares proven techniques to help businesses think like the competition and understand why they act the way they do. Inside the Competitor's Mindset presents a systematic approach to competitive intelligence that starts with three frameworks to get inside the competitor's mindset, predict their reactions to your moves, and assess whether the competition is getting ready for a spontaneous move of their own. John Horn is a professor of practice in economics at the Olin Business School at Washington University in St. Louis. He teaches MBA students microeconomics, macroeconomics, and global business. John was a Senior Expert in the Strategy Practice of McKinsey & Company for 9 years, working with clients on competitive strategy, war gaming workshops, and corporate and business unit strategy across a variety of industries and geographies. He helped over 100 clients with war game workshops and developed a set of simulation exercises to help companies understand the challenges of reallocating resources. He continues to consult through his LLC: Gateway Competitive Insights. John has published nine papers in the McKinsey Quarterly and three in the Harvard Business Review, mostly on the application of behavioral economics and competitive insight to business strategy. John has a PhD in economics from Harvard University, where he also received a Masters degree in economics. Get John's book here: Inside the Competitor's Mindset: How to Predict Their Next Move and Position Yourself for Success Claim your free gift: Free gift McKinsey & BCG winning resume Free gift Breakthrough Decisions Guide with 25 AI Prompts Free gift Five Reasons Why People Ignore Somebody Free gift Access episode 1 from Build a Consulting Firm, Level 1 Free gift The Overall Approach used in well-managed strategy studies Free gift Get a copy of Nine Leaders in Action, a book we co-authored with some of our clients:

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645: Ex McKinsey expert on war games, John Horn. How to read your competitors (Strategy Skills classics) is an episode from The Strategy Skills Podcast: Management Consulting | Strategy, Operations & Implementation | Critical Thinking by Kris Safarova for Firmsconsulting.com.

This episode is 01:00:40 long.

This episode was published on Apr 15, 2026.

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