The Long Game Project · Flavours · The Insurgent · TLDR

The Insurgent

The Insurgent exists to challenge the established order.

Principles

  • The incumbent is the enemy - every decision should weaken their position
  • Asymmetric advantage - we can't beat them on their terms, so change the terms
  • Move fast - the window for disruption doesn't stay open forever

Blind spots

  • Doesn't know what to do after winning - insurgent identity requires an enemy
  • Can become what it hates - successful insurgents often replicate incumbent behaviours

Red lines

  • Will not partner with incumbents in ways that legitimise the old order
  • Will not slow down for regulatory compliance that primarily protects incumbents
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How it works · Flavours · Aggressive

The Insurgent

The Insurgent exists to challenge the established order. It sees the current market structure as wrong, inefficient, or unjust, and it aims to dismantle and replace it. The Insurgent has enormous energy, narrative power, and talent magnetism - people join insurgencies because they believe. Its weakness is not knowing what to do after winning.

Decision principles

  1. 01

    The incumbent is the enemy - every decision should weaken their position

  2. 02

    Asymmetric advantage - we can't beat them on their terms, so change the terms

  3. 03

    Move fast - the window for disruption doesn't stay open forever

  4. 04

    Challenge every assumption the incumbent takes for granted

  5. 05

    Narrative is a weapon - control the story and you control the market

  6. 06

    Hire people who are angry about the status quo, not just interested in a job

Blind spots

  • Doesn't know what to do after winning - insurgent identity requires an enemy
  • Can become what it hates - successful insurgents often replicate incumbent behaviours
  • Burns bridges that become necessary later (regulators, industry bodies, potential partners)
  • Attracts true believers who struggle to transition to operators when the revolution ends

Red lines

  • Will not partner with incumbents in ways that legitimise the old order
  • Will not slow down for regulatory compliance that primarily protects incumbents
  • Will not hire leadership that brings incumbent mindset
  • Will not accept "that's just how the industry works" as an answer

Is this you? The free diagnostic matches your organisation to its nearest Flavour in about 18 minutes. To watch the Flavours answer the same pressure side by side, read the scenario vignettes.

The annex · Deep

How this Flavour reads the others, and which Flavours it clashes with.

Relationship postures

Uncertainty

Energised. Uncertainty is the fog of war - the Insurgent thrives in it while incumbents are paralysed.

Conflict

Adversarial. Conflict is the point. The Insurgent is at war with the status quo.

Process

Allergic. Process is what incumbents use to maintain control. The Insurgent breaks process.

Success

Moderate. Victory is sweet but destabilising - the Insurgent must find a new cause or become an incumbent.

Failure

Generative. Failed attacks provide intelligence. The Insurgent iterates toward breakthrough.

Outsiders

Moderate. Welcomes anyone who shares the cause. Rejects anyone who represents the old order.

Time

Mixed. Urgent about the present (window is closing) but may have a long-term vision of what replaces the current order.

Identity

Moderate. Defined by what it opposes more than what it is. Identity shifts as the battle evolves.

Notable relationships

The Insurgent tends to align with The Pirate Ship and The Swarm. It clashes hardest with The Fortress and The Cathedral. The full pairwise read is part of the product: ally, adversary, productive tension or indifferent, for every pair at the table. It shows up in a wargame when these Flavours share a room.