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PeopleAnalyst is the front door for people-analytics research: 205+ works indexed and profiled, 40+ citation-grade findings extracted, and peer-reviewed behavioral science translated from academic to actionable — the missing manual for the people analytics you always meant to do.

What is people analytics?

People analytics is not a dashboard. It is behavioral science and statistical inference applied to workforce decisions — a discipline with its own methodology, spanning measurement, organizational design, talent, leadership, and analytics craft.

Why does AI in HR need measurement science?

AI is being deployed in high-stakes people decisions — hiring, performance, attrition — without the measurement science to evaluate whether it works or whom it harms. Construct validity, effect sizes, and criterion validity are the vocabulary for asking an AI vendor the right questions.

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The evidence is indexed and searchable: 205+ works, 40+ citation-grade insight cards, and 8 research arcs, so the right finding reaches the right decision at the right time.

What separates good people measurement from assertion?

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The Practice of Strategy From Alexander

In a sentence

Through twelve historical case studies spanning from antiquity to modern conflicts, this book argues for the unity of all strategic experience, demonstrating that while the character of war changes, its fundamental nature and the logic of strategy remain timeless.

What do Alexander the Great, Byzantine emperors, and modern generals in Iraq have in common? This book answers that question by exploring the enduring nature of strategy across more than two millennia of warfare. Featuring essays by leading military historians, it delves into twelve pivotal conflicts—from the campaigns of ancient Rome and the Hundred Years War to the American Civil War and the Cold War—to reveal the timeless principles that govern the art of winning. It argues that while the tools and context of war constantly evolve, the core function of strategy—the purposeful matching of ends, ways, and means to achieve political objectives—is universal. For military professionals, students of history, and anyone interested in the logic of conflict, this book provides a masterclass in seeing the unchanging forest for the ever-changing trees, demonstrating how grand strategy and military strategy must work in concert to translate victory on the battlefield into lasting political success.

The four lenses

Science
Statistics
Systems
Strategy

The model

This model, inferred from 'The Practice of Strategy', posits that a state's ability to achieve its political purpose and ensure its long-term viability is a function of its strategic competence. Strategic competence mediates the influence of foundational conditions—such as the clarity of political goals, resource availability, and the quality of the military instrument—to produce military success and, ultimately, the achievement of the desired political end-state. The entire process is shaped by the prevailing geopolitical context.

Clarity of Political Purposedesign lever

The degree to which a state's political objectives for a conflict are clear, realistic, consistent, and well-communicated to those responsible for strategy and military operations. This serves as the 'ends' in the strategic calculus.

Resource Availabilitycontextual condition

The quantity and quality of material and human resources a state can mobilize for war, including manpower, economic strength, industrial capacity, financial liquidity, and logistical infrastructure. This represents the 'means' in the strategic calculus.

Quality of Military Instrumentdesign lever

The effectiveness of a state's armed forces, determined by factors such as leadership, training, discipline, morale, technological sophistication, tactical doctrine, and adaptability to different forms of warfare. This represents a key component of the 'means'.

Geopolitical Contextcontextual condition

The overarching international and geographical environment, including the structure of alliances, the nature and number of adversaries, and the physical constraints of the theater of operations. This context shapes the strategic problem to be solved.

Strategic Competencebehavioral pattern

The ability of a state's leadership to formulate and execute a coherent strategy by effectively matching political ends with available ways and means, and skillfully integrating military and non-military instruments of power. This represents the 'ways' or the art of strategy.

Military Successoutcome metric

The achievement of military objectives through the successful execution of campaigns and battles, such as defeating enemy armies, capturing key territory, or neutralizing enemy capabilities. This is an intermediate outcome of competent strategy.

Achievement of Political Purposeoutcome metric

The successful translation of military outcomes and other strategic effects into the desired political end-state, such as a favorable and lasting peace treaty, the submission of an adversary, or the restoration of a desired political order.

Long-Term State Viabilityoutcome metric

The enduring security, stability, prosperity, and longevity of the state or empire following a conflict. This reflects whether the strategic effort resulted in a net positive or negative long-term outcome for the polity.

How they connect

political purpose clarity → influences strategic competence
resource availability → influences strategic competence
military instrument quality → influences strategic competence
geopolitical context → influences strategic competence
strategic competence → predicts military success
strategic competence → predicts achievement of political purpose
military success → mediates achievement of political purpose
achievement of political purpose → predicts long term state viability

The story

The reader A military professional, policymaker, or student of history who wants to master the timeless principles of strategy to think more clearly and perform more effectively in a world of complex and ever-changing conflicts.

External problem

They struggle to develop and apply effective strategy, often getting lost in the unique details of contemporary conflicts and confusing tactics or operations with a coherent strategic plan.

Internal problem

They feel uncertain and overwhelmed by the complexities of modern warfare, questioning whether historical lessons have any relevance and struggling to distinguish enduring principles from situational noise.

Philosophical problem

It's just plain wrong that leaders and commanders make costly, often tragic, mistakes because they fail to grasp the fundamental, unchanging logic of strategy that connects military action to political purpose.

The plan

Examine strategy in practice through twelve distinct historical case studies, from Alexander the Great to modern Iraq.
Identify the universal patterns and continuities in the logic of strategy across vastly different technological and cultural contexts.
Internalize a general theory of strategy, articulated in twenty-one clear dicta, to guide your own strategic thinking and decision-making.

Success

Gaining a clear framework for understanding the relationship between politics, grand strategy, and military operations.
Developing the ability to analyze any conflict through the lens of timeless strategic principles.
Becoming a more competent and confident leader, capable of crafting and executing sound strategy.
Achieving political objectives more effectively by ensuring military action serves a clear and attainable purpose.

At stake

Remaining confused about the nature of strategy, leading to flawed plans and wasted resources.
Continuing to mistake tactical success for strategic victory, resulting in conflicts that are won on the battlefield but lost politically.
Failing to learn from history and repeating the strategic errors of the past.
Risking costly failures by being unable to connect military means to coherent political ends.

Questions this book answers

Is there a unity to all strategic experience across different historical eras and technological contexts?
What is the enduring relationship between grand strategy (the use of all national resources) and military strategy (the use of force)?
How have successful leaders throughout history purposely matched political ends, strategic ways, and available means to achieve victory?
Why is a clear understanding of strategic theory essential for the effective practice of strategy?

Glossary

Clarity of Political Purpose: The degree to which a state's political objectives for initiating or engaging in a conflict are clear, realistic, consistent, and effectively communicated as guidance for strategic planning. It represents the 'ends' of strategy and serves as the ultimate benchmark for success.
Resource Availability: The sum of material and non-material assets that a state can mobilize and sustain for a strategic undertaking. This includes military manpower, economic output, industrial capacity, financial resources, logistical infrastructure, and technological level. It constitutes the primary 'means' available to the strategist.
Quality of Military Instrument: The overall combat effectiveness and adaptability of a state's armed forces, independent of sheer numbers. This encompasses the quality of leadership, troop training and discipline, morale, tactical and operational doctrine, technological sophistication, and the ability to adjust to different types of warfare (e.g., siege, battle, insurgency).
Geopolitical Context: The external structural environment in which a state operates, comprising its geographical position, the number and strength of its adversaries and allies, and the prevailing norms and structure of the international system. This context defines the opportunities and constraints for a state's strategy.
Strategic Competence: The practical art, exhibited by a state's leadership, of orchestrating and applying its sources of power (the means) in a coherent scheme of action (the ways) to achieve its political objectives (the ends). It involves balancing risks, integrating military and non-military instruments, and adapting to the dynamic and adversarial nature of conflict.
Military Success: The favorable outcome of military operations, measured by the accomplishment of assigned military objectives. This is an intermediate outcome that creates the conditions for political success, but is not synonymous with it. It includes winning battles, executing successful campaigns, and imposing one's will on the enemy's armed forces.
Achievement of Political Purpose: The ultimate outcome of a strategic endeavor, where military and other effects are successfully converted into the realization of the state's original political objectives. This represents 'winning the war' in a political sense, leading to a more favorable and durable peace.
Long-Term State Viability: The enduring health and security of the state or empire in the decades and generations following a major conflict. This reflects whether the war, even if politically successful, was won at a cost (human, economic, social) that enhanced or undermined the state's long-term power and stability.