I agree with Fred Wilson here. Umair at Bubblegeneration may be onto something with this post. Here're the key excerpts:
"Strategy itself, in a very real sense, is becoming a commodity...
The bigger question the commoditization of strategy begs is this: what is the next great shift in value creation?I think it is going to have to do with creativity. In a world where strategy is a commodity, creativity becomes the vital factor from which value flows.
When everyone can think strategically about everything, the locus of value creation shifts from out-thinking everyone to out-creating them."
Want an example even though it may not be earth-shattering?
I'd point to this iLounge review of the just released Nike + Apple iPod Sports Kit. AppleInsider also has a detailed blow-by-blow in images.
At first glance, it seems like a trivial, perhaps even silly product. A gizmo that goes into a shoe that helps keep pace and track a work out on a music player...huh?
But reading the review and seeing the various online and offline components of this 
$29 product (not including the Nike Plus shoes), one begins to see the creative bits:
--the cool interface design of the Nike + web site that tracks your workout results,
--the very design of the two pieces that go into the shoe and the iPod Nano, and connect them with a proprietary wifi connection.
And you see how the creativity trumps the strategy of the thing. One can just imagine the stra
tegy meeting at either Nike or Apple that may have kicked this whole thing off:
"We ought to build a strategic relationship with them".
Companies do this every day, dreaming up strategy, and/or strategic alliances with other companies.
The current GM/Renault/Nissan discussions are a case in point.
It is the creative stuff that's eventually executed that's the real value-add.
No guarantee though that mainstream customers will take to it in droves. But the creativity is cool.
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